I’ve done my very best to do things by the book as the sub-alpha of the pack. Earning my position was a tough feat, and maintaining it has been a challenge in its own right since I have to be careful with my every move. It has to be precise, perfect, or I might risk losing the palliative care my parents are awarded courtesy of the Elder Council, whom I must appease.
One of those members is interrogating me right now, and he doesn’t seem pleased.
“I was—” I begin, a dismal attempt to lie about where I was. How do I come clean and tell Elder Garret that I was out making sweet love to Yvonne Lang against the bookshelves that can attest to me taking her virginity?
There’s no point in lying; in my twenty-five years as a werewolf, I’ve never felt more alive than I did last night.
“Spare me the details, Alpha Dawson.” Garret shakes his head as he strolls around the desk in the center of the pack den. “I know you were with the Lang girl. There’s no need to lie about it.”
As my cheeks flush with heat, I turn my eyes down sheepishly. I know exactly what he’s going to say.
Pursing my lips, I brace for impact. It comes as a steady reminder that Yvonne Lang’s father and brother had committed an unforgivable crime against the Snehvolk Pack—their own pack—and the Lang family has been deemed outcasts ever since. Though the crime was punished by their deaths, the remaining members of the Lang family had to suffer the consequences long after the father and son duo were executed.
Yvonne has suffered the most—I know that much. That’s why she confines herself to the pack library, hiding behind those cute, thick spectacles that are too big for her face. She’s hiding away from the rest of the pack, being an omega whose family name had been dragged through the mud.
But no one knows Yvonne the way I do. With her, I feel invincible, yet free at the same time. Free to be me, without the constraints of being the pack Alpha, and without the weight of everyone who’s relying on me hanging heavy on my shoulders.
“If you plan on making the Lang girl your mate…” Garret begins measuredly, prompting me to lift my eyes and take in the pause.
He’s purposely doing this—he wants to gauge my reaction. Until a second ago, I hadn’t realized that it’s exactly what I would have done; I would have claimed Yvonne Lang as my mate. The thought alone is the most natural response to what happened between us last night, but Garrett’s raised brow complicates my decision.
“I will have your privileges revoked,” Garret continues. “The care your parents receive…”
“No.” My heart sinks instantly. Taking care of two parents who are chronically ill has been challenging on its own. That’s why I fought through my trials with everything I had in meto become a sub-alpha. It’s the only way I could afford the treatment my parents need.
“You can’t do that.” I shake my head slowly, disbelievingly, while Garret rounds me with calm composure.
“Might I remind you what the Lang family cost this pack?” Garret growls from behind me, and I’m too rigid to turn to face him.
I know exactly why he has a personal vendetta against the Langs—Giovanni and Mateo Lang cost this pack many lives, including that of Garret’s son, when they led humans to our territory.
“N-no, Elder Garret,” I say with a gulp, suddenly aware that if I’m not punished for consorting with his enemy, she’ll be punished directly.
I have to protect her, too.
“I wasn’t planning on making her my mate.” The lie is inconsolably bitter on my tongue, forcing me to pause with a gulp. Luckily for me, Garret is behind me, and he can’t see the strain on my face as I curl my fists at my sides. “The Lang girl was nothing more than a one-night stand. I’m not reckless enough to take the nerdy omega as my mate.”
“Good,” Garret praises me with a hand on my shoulder, patting me for good measure. “Just so we’re certain thatsheknows this, I’ll accompany you to the library, where you’re going to officially reject her.”
My heart skips a nervous beat, but I know there’s no way I can get out of this one. Not while Garret seems to be watching me, just waiting for an opportunity to pull the rug out from under me.
All because he despises the Lang girl.
As much as it pains me to even think about it, I’ll have to reject Yvonne, at least until I can get Garret off my back and return to her to explain what’s really going on, and that I want nothing more than for her to be my mate.
Present
Perched stiffly on the chair beside the bed, I stare at Yvonne’s bruised and battered face. Her injuries are harsh against her creamy white skin, appearing like cracks sliced through a porcelain statue.
It’s almost impossible to believe that this is the same she-wolf who’d stolen my heart in the past. Gone are the thick eyeglasses framing her face, and the plumpness of her round face has gone, too. There’s a maturity about the way her cheekbones stand prominent and the way her lips are pressed into a firm line as she lies unconscious.
It must be because she’s a mother now…
I saw her with her child inside her cabin out in Sunrise when I followed her and spied on her next moves after saving her from those males. Perhaps it was curiosity that lured me in, but I’m glad I was there to save her when a mob of Moonshine werewolves barged into her cabin just when she was about to leave with her son.
How long was I out there, spying on Yvonne Lang as she prepared to leave the village? I must have lost track of the time, but I’m glad I didn’t have my senses intact, or I wouldn’t have been there to stop Moonshine from killing her, thinking she was responsible for those males’ deaths.
Not only did I save her, but I saved her son, too, and brought them both to Girdwood the moment she passed out.The Moonshine Pack had no choice but to stand back when I declared that she was my mate.
