The elderly followed, and a female bowed her head to me. “Thank you, Alpha Wolfe.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” I said. I wasn’t being cruel, just honest.
I felt Jaxson’s gaze on me—measuring, assessing. “You’re doing more for us than Malric ever would,” he said quietly.
“That’s because I’m not Malric.”
“And that’s exactly why we came.” He looked through the trees, scanning the perimeter. “We need new alliances, not old grievances.”
Was he making reference to the rogue attacks that Malric may have been coordinating for years? I didn’t know whether to be relieved or suspicious. Probably both.
Behind me, Diesel’s distant growl echoed across the ridge.
Killian slid me a look. “He hates this.”
“He hates everything,” I sent back.
But truthfully? Diesel was right to be wary. Something about Emberfell’s timing didn’t sit well. Something about their story felt clean. Too clean. But something else tugged at me—something darker. They smelled like wolves who had run from the same kind of enemy we had just fought.
Jaxson bowed his head as the final elder walked past. “We’ll earn our keep,” he said. “Just give us a chance.”
I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I looked up at the sky. Thin light. No warmth. The kind of day before a storm. My gut twisted with a truth I didn’t want to voice. This wasn’t mercy. This was preparation. I was letting them in to use them in the fight going forward. Because if Emberfell’s enemy and ours were the same, then the Council wasn’t just clearing territories.
They wereamassing silence.And silence was worse than a battlefield.
Diesel’s head snapped back, and he stared up at the sky. “For fuck’s sake,” he mumbled, and then he was striding away, anger in his step.
“What the hell?”Killian asked.
“Sometimes it’s better not to ask,” I told him, but my gaze flicked back to where my beta was heading. The Heartwood? I hesitated. He could deal with whatever it was that had pissed him off this time.
“Get your pack settled outside the boundary,” I said finally. “If you’re ready, come in and we can talk.”
Jaxson nodded once, he sent a few orders to Dex and the other older male behind him, and then he stepped onto the Hollow’s ground, and the air shifted—as if something unseen had just taken interest. I didn’t look toward the ridge.
The presence watching us wasn’t Pack Council, but I wasn’t all that sure it was friendly.
Chapter 23
Rowen
My eyes flew open,and I looked up into Diesel’s angry glare.
“Wh-what?” I was alert but disoriented, and curled up in the druid’s tent by the looks and smell of it. “How?”
“Because, unlike your druid, I can sense when you’re getting involved in things that you shouldn’t!” he snapped. “What the fuck were you doing?”
I scrambled to my feet. “The druid drugged me!” I yelled at him, bending down and picking up the cup. “Because my mate is an asshole!”
Diesel gave me a flat look, taking the cup from my hand. “Your mate has always been an asshole. I don’t know why you’re only pissed off about this now; it’s not news to you.” He sniffed the cup again. “And the druid shouldn’t be giving you valerian root. Wildly ineffective against anyone with a grain of power.” He looked me over. “A punch would have been so much more effective.”
I gaped at him wordlessly.
He rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, you tell me you’re afighter, then get all female on me when I mention knocking you out.”
My wolf snapped close to my skin as I lunged forward, ready to deck the arrogant bastard, but he moved fast, his hand around my throat, and he had me in the air. I couldn’t help but remember the last time he did this, and from the look in his eye, he hadn’t forgotten either.
“Diesel—”
