The rope cut into her wrists, sending pain up her arms. “Hodge. Not Nightsom,” she corrected.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re the heir to the Slate Pack, name or not.” Merritt glanced over at Luca. “I’m the Alpha of the Ravencall wolves now.”
“Bullshit,” Luca snarled, straining against his restraints.
“Deal with it,” Merritt said, sounding bored. “I took over yesterday.”
Luca’s face went white. “The enforcers wouldn’t allow it.”
“They’re dead,” Merritt replied carelessly. He turned back to Nadia and smiled. “Now you and I need to come to an agreement.”
Panic grabbed her around the throat, and she tried to concentrate, tugging with her right arm. She had to get free. The fire cracked and shifted, sending a wash of heat across her face before the wind tore it away again. Where were they? “What kind of agreement?” she asked. Was her thumb getting free?
Merritt watched her in silence for a long moment. “Mate me and live.”
“My pack will kill you,” she hissed, rolling her shoulders and testing the ropes again. Her wrists burned. The knots were tight and deliberate. Whoever had tied them knew what they were doing.
“The Slate Pack is fractured,” he said. “I’ve heard about the trials and the old laws dragging everyone backward. That makes it vulnerable.”
They really needed to come into the current times. She pulled, and the rope cut her thumb. “The laws protect my pack. We follow the rules until they’re rightfully changed.”
“Rules only matter when everyone agrees to follow them,” he countered.
She pulled her feet back and yanked again. The rope held fast around her boots. Her calves screamed in protest. “Everyone chooses to follow them.”
“My proposal is simple,” Merritt continued. “You mate with me. We return to Slate territory. Anyone who resists is removed. Cleanly. The pack stabilizes.”
She stared at him. “No.”
He studied her expression, searching for hesitation. “Then I kill Luca,” he said calmly.
Luca snorted. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”
Nadia glanced at Luca, who was still bleeding from the mouth. “Sorry, Luca.”
Merritt laughed out loud. “I like you. This plan has come together nicely.”
Plan? Seriously? Suspicion rippled through her. “Did you poison the tea?”
He frowned, peering closer into her eyes. “Tea? What tea? Are you still under the influence from the dart?”
The guy had no idea what she was talking about. “No. But I’ll make you a deal. Let us go now, and I won’t let my entire pack hunt you down.” She wouldn’t be able to stop Caidrik, but that was Merritt’s problem.
His mouth curved into a faint smile. He reached out and brushed snow from her chin, fingers lingering for a second too long. His touch was cold. “You’re a quick thinker. That’s good. A mate needs to see the board clearly.”
Luca jerked his feet, but his ropes didn’t give. “You can’t enter the trials this late, asshole.”
“I’m not entering them,” Merritt replied. “I’m ending them.”
Nadia exhaled slowly. “My pack will kill you.”
“Not if I have the heir at my side.”
The fire popped loudly. Smoke rolled low across the ground. Nadia leaned back against the chair and closed her eyes for half a second. Her right hand slipped free of the rope with a sudden give that sent pain screaming up her arm. The fibers burned against her skin and scraped bone. She stilled instantly, breath locked in her chest, pulse pounding so hard she could feel it in her ears. “Listen,” she said carefully, keeping her voice steady. “I appreciate the drama. Really. But that’s not how the Slate Pack works. Tradition matters to all of us.”
“I’ll kill your sister and your father,” he said calmly. “If you don’t follow my lead.”
The words landed clean and sharp.
