Chapter 15

**Michael Sr. POV**

As soon as I dismissed the pack, I stepped back into my office. Kataleya walked passed me, heading to my door, “Kat, they will come around.”

She looks at me, shakes her head, and I can see the tears building in her eyes, “No they will not, but that is okay. I won’t let them break me. I will be their next Alpha and I will be damn good at what I do.” She then walks off, gently shutting the door behind her.

I looked at Elijah and asked him to go keep an eye on her and make sure she was truly okay. Elijah nodded his head and left the room to go find Kataleya.

This whole thing would have been hard for anyone. It is hard to believe my pack could have so little faith in my child. She is of Alpha blood, and of course, she will be capable of running a pack. They just have to get out of the backwards mindset about the functions and use of women when it comes to pack hierarchy.

I did find Justin’s reaction when one of the pack members had shouted that she was too broken to be an Alpha interesting. He looked downright furious. I could tell that he was ready for blood. It looks like someone might have a crush on Kat. I wonder how she will take that.

There was a sudden knock on the door. I take a deep breath and sigh. I know what is coming. The Elders have come to say their piece about Kat being Alpha. Here goes nothing.

“Enter.”

The door opens and in walks the six pack Elders. Christopher, who is considered to be the “head” elder, was the first to walk into the room.

“Gentlemen, I can assure you that if you are coming in here to spout your nonsense about my daughter, then you can go ahead and leave. I do not have time for your nonsense bullshit.” I stated coldly.

“Michael, please be reasonable about this. Kataleya is a wonderful person, we are not refuting that, but she is a female. The only way that we can agree with this decision is if you assure us that you will not hand her the title and the pack, until she meets her mate and then her mate takes his rightful title as Alpha and Kataleya takes her spot as the Luna.” Christopher stated.

I sighed. “Christopher, I told you, I am not going to let you belittle my daughter. Kat is perfectly capable of running this pack, just like Elijah or Michael is. Michael wanted Kat to take his place and I saw nothing wrong with it. Hell, there have been times that I thought that maybe it would be better for Kat to do so, since she seems more capable than Michael. Not to mention, I recall telling you when my mate was pregnant with Michael that if he was born as a female, then she would become the rightful heir to this pack, since after all she would be my hypothetical first born.”

Benjamin, another one of the Elders, interjected, “After what happened to her, do you really think that she is capable of protecting this pack? She wasn’t even able to protect herself. How can we really be sure that she will be able to protect an entire pack? She succumbed to her circumstances…As Alpha, you cannot do that! She isn’t strong enough; she is too weak to lead a pack. A typical woman, ruled by—” I cut Benjamin off, growling at him, my aura pushing around the room. I see several of the Elders flinch at the intensity that I am pushing my aura.

“ENOUGH! My daughter is not weak! She was sexually assaulted! That would fuck with anyone. How dare you come in here and fucking insinuate my daughter is less than because she was assaulted? What if it was your fucking daughter? God forbade anything to happen to Alia. Would you call her weak? Shame her? All because of circumstances that were outside of her damn control? Get the fuck out of my office, all of you! I have had enough of your fucking insinuations about shit you know nothing about. Don’t you dare come back until you are able to act accordingly.”

As the last one gets ready to walk out my office, Christopher turns to me, “We are trying to offer you our advice. We did not mean to offend you or insult Kataleya. We are just trying to look out for the best interests of the pack.”

I walk behind my desk, sit in my chair, and place my head in my hands. What can I do to make them see that Kataleya is the best for this position? How can I show them that Kataleya is more than her trauma?

My office door is slightly open and I smile softly at the scent. Jasmine and sandalwood. Isabella, my mate, walked into the room. She walks to me at my desk, and I push my desk and pull her into my lap. I press my face into the crook of her neck, and I deeply inhale her scent.

“How much did you hear?” I quietly asked her.

“The entire packhouse heard. The door was left open, and we heard everything. I am hoping Kataleya either wasn’t in the packhouse or had her door shut to whatever room that she was in. Do not let what the Elders say get to you. They do not know what they are talking about. You and I both know that we raised a wonderful, caring, and strong daughter. She can handle anything life throws at her.” She pauses waiting for me to interrupt, but when I don’t, she continues, “I think one of the warriors has a crush on Kataleya. When Benjamin started spouting his bullshit, he stormed out of the packhouse. He was shaking pretty badly, barely made it outside before he shifted into his wolf.”

I laughed, “You are probably talking about Justin. He was the one that had growled when someone made their comment about her being weak during the announcement. He looked like he was going to attack someone then too.”

She laughed with me. “I guess only time will tell, love. Let’s go check on Kat and then head home and go to bed. She did tell me that she was going to stay at the packhouse. I thought Oliver was going to stay with her. He looked like he didn’t want to leave her when I saw them together earlier.” I really should be concerned about how much time Oliver and Kat have been spending together at night…That’s a concern for another day, I guess.