Frowning, I shook my head. “What do you mean, stop? We have talked about this so many times?—”
“No, Tasha.Youhave talked about this so many times. I just haven’t contradicted you. It’s not the same.”
“‘You haven’t contradicted me?’” I asked, bewildered by his rude-ass response. Those were plans we had made together… Or so I’d thought. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Tasha, please,” he growled, clearly annoyed.
“No. Tell me what you mean?”
Sighing, like I was a bratty kid giving him a headache, he shook his head. “You aredifferent. You are not strong enough to be a Hunter.”
Different…The word burned through me.
“Iamstrong enough. There are she-wolves in the Hunters’ already, I can fight alongside them and?—”
“You can’t even shift into your wolf without excruciating pain,” he snapped, cutting me off before abruptly dropping me on my feet. “Do you really think you’ll be able to fight those vile monsters? Give me a fucking break, Natasha.” He snidely snorted. “Others have pushed through the pain to at least achieve basic wolf form without the fire magic, but you can’t even do that.”
The loss of his embrace hurt almost as much as his harsh words, but my hands still fisted at my sides, trembling. Pain choked my throat, and yet, it was true. I wasn’t like other she-wolves. I was a broken wolf. While others roamed the forest freely in their wolf forms, I was stuck here with the breeders and their cubs, still struggling to shift on my own.
Unable to become who I knew I was truly meant to be.
“That won’t last forever, and you know it, Ryker!” I shouted back at him, pain and frustration driving my outburst.
Instantly, my future mate’s nostrils flared, and his raven-black eyes glowed an eerie yellow with fury.One should never defy or raise our voice attheBeta of the pack. It was disrespectful, and a direct challenge of his supremacy over us.
What felt like my wolf’s fear swirled through me at the sight, eliciting a howl as her body contracted, and though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I submitted, dropping my gaze from his.
“Sorry, Ryker, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful,” I offered through almost gritted teeth while hurt and anger still swirled through me, which probably didn’t help my case. “Thefire ceremonyis only two days away,” I reminded him, forcefully glancing at the ground. “Once I complete the challenge, my wolf will finally take over and I’ll be just like you. I know how to fight. You know this. For years, Isis has trained me so I can hold my own in a battle. Iamcapable.”
Not looking him in the eyes, I risked a glance at his face.
“I know,” he answered, his voice much calmer than I anticipated, while his hand gripped my chin to finish lifting my face. “You’ve worked harder than any she-wolf in the pack, but you are still not ready, Tasha. You’ve never killed a monster, or another shifter for rank. Even after you successfully shift, you will never be ‘just like me’.”
Once again, his statement scorched me, but he was right. Ryker was second in command to our Alpha, not only to our pack but also to the Hunters—an honor earned through years of harsh training, accrued strength, and beating other Betas during a challenge of power. Unlike Alphas, there could be more than one Beta in a pack at any given time, but wolf challenges werefought to the death, so whoever survived became the stronger Beta.
Ryker had climbed quite the shifter ladder to rise to where he was today, and any Betas left knew better than to challenge him.
“There is no place for you in the Hunters,” he continued, driving the knife deeper into my heart. “You belong here, Tasha, in the village, raising our future cubs.”
Oh, hell to the fucking no! Did he just say that to me?
“I’m notabreeder,” I seethed, searing fury flaring inside me—like actual flames igniting in my core. A kind of fury that didn’t belong to a lesser she-wolf like me. And yet, I felt it coursing through my veins like fiery lava. “I am the niece of theShadow BornAlpha. His only heir. I am?—”
“Exactly, Tasha. You areallhe has left after his only brother, the late Alpha, and his mate were sliced to pieces by Vampires before his eyes. It’s a miracle that you even survived the attack. He will never knowingly put you in the same kind of danger.”
“I deserve revenge!” I growled. “I need just—” My voice broke with the resentment and anguish squeezing my heart. “I deserve a chance to kill those monsters too.”
Sighing, Ryker slowly nodded, his thumb caressing my cheek in an attempt to soothe me. “I know you believe that, but revenge is not yours to take. It is the Alpha’s, and I will help him deliver it. It is why he gave you to me. Why he chose me as your future mate. Our AlphaknowsI will always look after you. And I willneverlet you face a Vamp?—”
His brows furrowed just as his words halted, and he finally paid attention to my appearance.
No.
My stomach sank to the floor.
No, no, no, no.
His fingertips rubbed against the other, the creamy foundation and blush spreading over his skin. My future mate’sexpression turned from confusion to ire in a split second, and I realized my grave mistake.
