“Because he’s the alpha?” she muttered, but it was half-hearted. Alpha’s had control to an extent, but it wasn’t like it used to be.
Then I thought about the mess we were in. How Xen had forbidden us from telling anyone?
Maybe things were exactly like they used to be.
We could always renounce Xen as alpha and leave his pack. That would erase any power he held over us. As much as I loved my pack, respected Xen to an extent—before last week anyway—I would do it for Jake. But then that wouldn’t help John, and his fate was at the root of this whole mess.
“Is that the only reason?” I prompted.
It took a minute. The indecision was clear on her face, but I waited. She’d said she wanted out of this as much as Jake. If she meant it, she needed to help us understand.
“My dad is old,” she began, focusing on her hands. I got it. It must’ve felt like betraying her pack, and that shit was hard to get past. “Older than he looks,” she added. “And he’s not as strong as he used to be.”
“Does your pack want a new alpha?” Jake asked.
“Some of them do.” She sneered. “Faris did. Owen too.”
Fuck. If both his betas wanted a change in leadership, then that didn’t bode well for pack harmony.
“Would you be his successor?” It didn’t always work that way. The role of alpha wasn’t always passed to next of kin. Some packs held open fights for the position; others voted. Each pack chose their own methods.
Myla shrugged. “In theory it goes to next of kin.”
By the look on her face that wasn’t what had happened. “Do you not want to be alpha?” I asked.
She laughed. “Oh, believe me, I want it. That pack needs a good shake up, and I have so many ideas. I just need a chance to put them in motion.”
“Is it because you’re female?” I tried. There wasn’t a lot of misogyny amongst shifters, but there was always the exceptions.
“It’s a little of that, some of the older members aren’t sold on the idea of a woman in charge of the pack.” She sighed, shoulders slumping. “But unfortunately, a lot of it is because I was a bit wild growing up. You know… alpha’s kid, didn’t like being told what to do, etcetera. I may have been in trouble a few too many times.”
“With the police?” I asked, trying to remember if I’d ever heard anything at work. Nothing came to mind.
She nodded. “Yep. But you wouldn’t have known because my dad and his beta at the time covered it up.”
Of course.
Clarissa Thornton hadn’t always been the boss of the Ravensdale police. Her predecessor left under dubious circumstances. That explained a lot.
“So, in light of my past,” Myla continued with a snarl. “Some of the pack feel I would benefit from a steadying hand if I was to take over from my dad.”
“And they chose Faris?” I still had a problem with them not letting her choose her own partner. “And you were okay with that?”
“Fuck no,” she scoffed. “Even though it pisses me off, I guess I can understand why the pack has reservations about me. I did some pretty stupid stuff when I was younger, and having a partner, someone to bounce ideas off and back me up when I become alpha, has its benefits. But no way was I marrying fucking Faris.”
“Then why get engaged to him?” Jake asked. He looked as confused as I did, and I hadn’t missed the slight flinch when he said the wordengaged. Because I guessed that was what the two of them were now.
Fuck, I hated that word too.
“Because I had a plan,” Myla said, drawing my attention back to her. “Well,wehad a plan. Me and Izzy.” She smiled then, and it gave her face a softness I hadn’t seen before. It also made her look younger, and I wondered how old she actually was.
“What sort of plan?” I sat forward, interest piqued.
“My dad and the others aren’t the only ones who know which archaic pack laws are still legally binding. I sometimes think they forget I can read.” She rolled her eyes, and I got the feeling her pack had hugely underestimated her. “There’s a little-known pack law that states a woman’s betrothal can be challenged if the woman agrees to the challenger’s proposal. Whoever is the winner is the one she has to marry.” She waved her hand around. “I know it’s a fucking awful law and died a death with good reason, but apparently it’s still a law my dad and the others would have to abide by.”
She took a deep breath. “Izzy is an amazing fighter, and I knew my dad was under a lot of pressure to persuade me to marry Faris, so I said yes.”
“With the plan to have Izzy fight Faris and marry you instead,” I said, still slightly horrified that such a law ever existed.
