Ollie goes still and darts a glance at me. “I still want to find my brother… or find out what happened to him after Wanda sold him to the humans as a fighter.”
“Of course.” I gently squeeze his hand. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like I wouldn’t support you in that. I’ll do everything in my power to help you. If nothing else, I’ll get Remy to do the research.”
Ollie gives me a small smile. “Thanks.”
“Anything for you,” I say, pressing a kiss to his cheek as Linda beams at us.
After dinner, it’s time for the next hurdle: introducing Ollie to the pack. Linda’s words have assuaged most of my fears about the pack’s reaction, and even though part of me wants to put it off, I’ll feel better getting it over with.
Using the pack bond, I call everyone together, then go stand in front of the house and wait, Ollie on one side of me and Macy and her mother on the other. Most of the pack arrives quickly, gathering in a small crowd by my driveway. John, however, shows up a couple minutes later than everyone else.
I ignore his tardiness and raise my voice so I can be heard by everyone. “I know this is pretty informal, but I wanted to get it out of the way since you’ll be seeing him around.” I motion Ollie forward. “I’d like to introduce Ollie, your new Alpha Mate.”
Murmurs break out, but the pack sounds more surprised than anything else.
Except for John. He steps forward, a sneer on his face. “And you think we’re just going to accept this abomination? Randall would—”
“Silence,” I say in a clipped voice, putting the power of an Alpha command behind the word.
John’s mouth snaps shut and his eye widen briefly before narrowing on me with a glint of anger. I flash my teeth at him and he tilts his head to the side, baring his neck just enough to be respectful.
“Randall is dead,” I say in a flat voice. “And I’m the Alpha now. If you don’t like how I run things, then leave.” I let my gaze pass over the gathered shifters. “In fact, if there’s anyone else here who feels the same way as John, you’re also welcome to leave.”
Nobody moves, though I catch a few of John’s cronies darting glances at him as if waiting for him to do something else.
John turns to face the pack. “There’s no way all of you are happy having a fa—”
My hand shoots forward, grabbing him by the throat. “I will not tolerate any disrespect toward me or my mate. If you can’t handle that, then you will no longer be a member of this pack.Do you understand?” John’s eyes go wide with fear and he nodshis head frantically. I release him and flash my teeth. “Get out of my sight.”
John scurries away like the rat he is, and the rest of the evening goes smoothly. I’m not so sure John’s done making trouble, but I am done letting him get to me.
Once pretty much every member of the Sweet Water pack—mypack—has greeted Ollie, the two of us head back inside. I bring him up to my bedroom and draw him into bed, curling myself around him with his back to my chest.
Ollie twines our fingers together and presses a kiss to my palm before bringing our joined hands to rest over his heart. “Thank you,” he says softly.
“For what?”
“For everything,” he replies. “You offered me safety when I was lost without a name and gave me something I thought I’d never find again: a home.”
I squeeze his hand and bury my nose in his hair. Ollie might never recover all of his past, but I’m proud to be at his side as we move into the future. Together.
Epilogue
Blake
At my feet, anotherwolf lies dead, the most recent in a long line of shifters who have lost their lives to my teeth and claws. He would have killed me if he could—that’s the way this whole thing works. Instead, after less than five minutes his blood decorates my muzzle, his chest still as the life seeps out of him.
And I feel nothing.
Not elation at the win. Not pity for the dead. And damn sure not grateful to live another day.
I ignore my surroundings, letting my head drop as my sides heave with exertion. The ragged claw marks across my flank itch as they slowly heal, the sensation an unpleasant reminder of the fact that I still live.
On the other side of the fencing encasing the fighting ring, the crowd cheers and claps, reveling in the violence and death. They don’t really care who won. The mix of shifters and humans have all paid a premium to be allowed into the seedy underbelly of the casino and the fickle mob would have cheered just as loudly for my opponent if it were my blood splashed across the ground.
I’m nothing to them, simply the monster I’ve been turned into for their entertainment.
The metal door at the side of the ring rattles upward and one of my “handlers,” a male beta, edges into the ring holding one of those long poles with a loop at one end. I forget what the thing is called, my human knowledge not as accessible in wolf form, but I know what it’s used for.
