Oh,nowthey were going to be friendly?
I stared at my reflection in his glasses through the rearview mirror, wishing I could rip them off. "Not acub.”
I was nineteen, and they couldn’t be a day older than twenty-one. Was this a joke?
“Thenwhat?” Rage growled.
“Alphaheirto you, buddy." Might as well put these douchebags in their place right now. No island guard would talk down to me like this; I didn’t care how dominant they were.
All four of them laughed at that, and a blast of cold air hit me as the air conditioner came on. "Be nice,cub," Justice growled. "Or the next four years will really suck for you."
Was that a threat?
Fuming, I leaned forward and angled the vents away from me, blasting Rage and Honor with frigid air. How dare they?
Calm down, Nai. Don't show weakness unless there's a reason. Recalling my father's teachings, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“What’s with the names? You guys named after virtues or something?” I glared at Rage, who clearly wasn’t named after a virtue. More like his personality. But the others were Honor, Noble, Justice.
Justice grunted, but that was the only response I got.
“What’s your story?” Rage asked, his lip curling. “Didn’t Crescent Clan already send their heir last year?”
Nolan.
I tipped my chin up. “Nolan is thespare.”
Before Rage could reply, the Land Rover swerved, and I was thrown forward as Noble slammed on the brakes.
What the…?
"Get down! Rogues!" Noble snapped.
That one word sent ice water through my veins.
Rage grabbed my head and forced me down by the back of the neck so I could no longer see out the front windshield.
Patches of fur rippled down my arms as I tried to control my wolf. She wanted to come out now? With a snarl, I twisted and snapped at Rage’s wrist, fully intending to bite him. He yanked his hand back just in time, and I bolted upright, peering out the window. “Dammit!”
McCain and his crew.
Rogue wolves were akin to feral cats. They’d left their packs, usually forced out after repeated offenses. They had zero social skills and were more wolf than human. McCain was the worst. Stripped of pack and magic, healwayswanted blood—the only way to steal the mage-bestowed magic running through our veins.
What the hell was Noble waiting for? A peace talk?
"Run him over!" I shouted.
McCain stood in the road with his scrappy pseudo-pack of six wolves, blocking our way.
"I … can't," Noble faltered. "It's against wolf shifter law. They must strike first."
Was he kidding? I chortled at the lunacy of his statement. "Screw the code! I've seen this guy gnaw the flesh off a grown man faster than a royal betrayal. Run the rogue over before we—"
A heavy thump on the roof stole my breath, and I froze. I longed to shift into my wolf form, but my wolf was shy in times of stress. A really lame trait to have as an alpha heir.
Spinning to my right, I stared at a fully shifted werewolf standing just outside our window.
"Noble, go!" Justice shouted from shotgun, and the more tolerable of the brothers gunned the gas.
