I’d heard enough. I didn’t care about Osyrius or his fancy pack. He could, with all due respect to his family, fuck right off with that shitty, elitist attitude.
“Whose fault is it that I didn’t know who I was, Osyrius? My mother’s! And, based on what you’re telling me now, yours. The entire Tupilaq pack’s, in fact. Even my father kept me in the dark. The only one who’s ever told me a single truth about who I am is Ethan. To claim anything else is a straight-up lie and we all know it!”
Osyrius surged forward, his teeth bared in a grimace of rage. “I would have told you everything, mate, but I never got the chance because this opportunistic stray defiled you before I even had a chance to meet you!”
Flashing my teeth right back at him, I hissed, “Don’t EVER call my mate a stray again. He and his brothers are ten times the men you or your pack will ever be.”
“Is that so?” He returned in a deadly calm voice.
“It is,” I spoke, matching his level of solemnity with every syllable.
Osyrius smiled like I’d just walked into a trap. Exposing the predatory sharpness of his canines then, he shifted his gaze over to Ethan. “If this alpha is my superior, then he won’t mind proving his right to his claim.”
“Any time,” my mate responded without hesitation.
“Excellent. I’ll see you in Alaska in three days’ time. Bring the omega. She’s been a naughty girl and needs some much overdue correction after what she’s put my pack through. Before she carries my bite and my pup, and stands by my side, she’s going to have to do some heavy groveling on her knees for my forgiveness, and I’m very much looking forward to that.”
Standing, Osyrius stared Ethan dead in the eye. “Seventy-two hours. That’s all you get before I’m coming back with my pack to eradicate yours.”
He turned and walked out of the restaurant. Swallowing hard, I turned to Ethan. “What did he mean we’re meeting him in Alaska? What just happened?”
My mate gave me a grim look. “Osyrius just challenged me to an alpha duel.”
My vision swam and my heart began to pound. “Absolutely not. We’re not animals, Ethan. We’re not playing into that psycho’s hands and traveling to his home territory just because he says so. I don’t care what wares do. This fight isn’t happening. I won’t let it.”
“You don’t understand, Millie. This isn’t just a fight. Not like you think. It’s a challenge between wares. It’s deadly serious. If I don’t go, Osyrius won’t just go away. He’ll come back with his pack and kill the entire family.”
My world began to spin off kilter than. “What!? Why? I don’t understand. You said it’s an omega’s choice to decide who she ends up with!”
“It is,” Ethan agreed. “But it’s an alpha’s prerogative to challenge anyone they like. Osyrius just did that. I can either rise to the bait or run and hide. I’m not running, Princess. This is my home. Our home. And you aremymate.”
“What happens if you win the fight?” I asked, terrified about being made to witness such a scene.
“We go home,” Ethan quietly relayed. “And the Tupilaq leaves us alone.”
I hated asking, but I needed to know the worst-case scenario. “And if you don’t?”
“The Tupilaq pack will keep you in Alaska with them.” His grey-blue gaze lasered into mine then. “And they send me home in a plain pine box.”
CHAPTER 15
Millie
“You’re not going,” Flint emphatically denied. “We’re strongest right where we are. If those fuckers try to step one foot on this property, we’ll show them exactly how hard a mutt can fight!”
For once, Flint and I were in total agreement. Going to Alaska was a fool’s errand. Knowing Osyrius, he’d set up an ambush on my family, killing them before they even had a chance to defend themselves.
“I second that,” Stark added, despite usually remaining quiet in our family meetings. “The Tupilaqs aren’t known for their hospitality, Ethan. They’ve got a reputation for double crossing their enemies. It’s not wise to accept Osyrius’s challenge on his pack’s territory. You should stay here and make him come to you.”
“I’m going to Alaska. That’s final,” Ethan returned, not listening to anyone, including me, as his serious gaze moved around the room.
After Osyrius had thrown down the gauntlet at the restaurant, I’d been in a state of shock. When Charlotte had come back to the table, that had snapped me out of it. Thinking on my feet, I’d lied and told her “Cam” had gotten an emergency phone call and had to leave in a panicked rush. I had no idea how I was going to comfort her after the man went back to Alaska and completely ghosted her now that his cover was blown and he no longer needed to keep up the “boyfriend” act.
Understandably, Charlotte had been really hurt after returning to our booth and finding her boyfriend MIA the first time she’d introduced him to her friends. The night had ended rather quickly after that, as her heart was clearly not in a celebratory mood anymore.
Barely able to focus on the conversation after Osyrius’s unhinged challenge to Ethan, I was grateful when Charlotte said she was tired and was heading home early. As soon as we’d gotten into the car, Ethan had texted the pack to head back to the cabin for a family meeting.
“Flint is right,” I angrily affirmed, hating that my mate was being so uncharacteristically stubborn about something so important. “Osyrius is laying a trap, and we all know it! Why play into his hands? It’s foolish and shortsighted to do so.”
