They would probably take it as a sign that I’m cursed, and no one wants someone damned to lead them. They’d think me defective.
In nearly one year, I’ve given everyone a reason not to follow my family and me. I received a public beating at the hands of my king after the Hunt, from which I returned mateless. Being the primary food and hunting source for packs, clans and covens, my family assumed we were safe and didn’t train to fight. This mistake cost many pack members their lives.
Now the supposed future-alpha’s mate is the rogue who killed their former alpha? I don’t want any hesitancy about my leadership or character to stand in the way of my birthright. I don’t need an uprising.
And I need a mate for me to rise. And fast.
King Dax was an exception to the rule that wolves must be mated before rising in leadership. Both his parents were dead, and my mother remains. Thank Goddess.
Unlike the king, they wouldn’t raise my status. They’d just choose a new leader. Going over Mother’s head to ask the council would be a mistake. It would draw attention to her absence and invite doubt about a smooth leadership transition. And to ask the queen when I wasn’t there for her was out of the question. Even if I had been there for her, it wouldn’t be right to take advantage of our friendship like that.
I couldn’t justify letting her go, either. Although most don’t, a few stragglers wander into our territory. Those who do, I hadn’t shown mercy to before. Surely, my pack would question why I would now. It took me a moment to find a solution, but find one, I did.
Who knew I’d find clarity while staring into my enemy’s eyes?
It’d be difficult, but I could pull it off... as long as my wolf doesn’t get in the way.
He growls.
I resent the Moon Goddess and mate. Now I have to protect everyone from their bad decisions.
There was no other choice. I didn’t know how else to get her out of this, let alone myself. Both of us could go down for this. It might look like betrayal during their anger-fueled grief, but letting emotion overrule logic would be worse.
My decision is made, and it’ll solve several of my problems. I’ll take her in, not as my mate but as my prisoner and convince my mother I need to take a mate. Once I choose a new mate, I’ll no longer recognize thissavageas mine, and any evidence of our bond would break. Then nothing would stand in the way of me avenging my father.
This could work. But how do I convince her?
“Is anyone looking for you?” I ask her.
Her eyes focus on the ground. Sullen, she slowly shakes her head no.
My wolf urges me to ask her why that question bothered her, but I push him back.
This is nothing more than the look of defeat setting in. An animal, a criminal, who’s finally been caught.
No one is coming to save her.
“We’ll set up camp here,” I announce to my men. “If she’s lying, more will come after her. I’d rather they attack now when we’re ready than lead them closer to home.”
I think she believes her answer. She’s often alone, but my men don’t know that, and I need more time to think things through before I face my mother.
My mate looks as though she hasn’t had a proper meal in weeks. Come to think of it, I haven’t lately, either.
Great, on top of everything else, I’m going to have to keep this one alive.
Did you drink water today? And no, coffee does not count as food.
For someone who can’t seem to survive on their own, she’s got pretty big balls to become an entire pack’s enemy.
Even in her fragile state, she had me hard just looking at her, and I’m a sucker for light green eyes and raven black hair. It infuriated me that the woman who helped kill my father could still turn me on as she stood ready to kill me, or anyone who stepped to her.
My feelings toward her confuse me. I want to fuck and break her at the same time. Instead of moans, I want her screams. I want to do more than mark her. I want tobrandher. I can’t kill her, but I could hurt her. I can’t love her—and I don’t want to—but I could at the very least, possess her.
I want to humiliate her the way she has my family. For an alpha to die by a rogue is embarrassing, and it puts our pack in danger. His death calls not only his, but now my credibility into question. After the attack nearly five months ago, other packs questioned our strength, assuming we lacked protection and security. Not only that, but their infiltration exposed our winter food stores so attacks on my pack increased. My family’s ancestral power is now not just a blessing but a curse.
***
I ordered a few pack members to watch my mate while I went with Tyler to gather supplies and hunt for dinner.
