“Yes—you’lldefinitelywin.Whichis whyIwant to offer you my daughter,Cynthia-Ann, right now to proveIhave faith in you,” she said.
“Offer me your daughter?”Korhonestly looked confused.“Forwhat purpose?”
“For breeding, of course!Justlook at her.”
Mrs.Browderdragged her daughter forward to stand in front ofKor.Thegirl was shivering and looking down at her shoes and she couldn’t have been any older thanIwas whenIwas sold toCarter.Maybeeven a year or two younger.
“Just look at her,”Mrs.Browderrepeated.“Lookat those breasts—she’ll make plenty of milk for your babies.Andher hips—she’s very fertile—unlike herLadyshipthere,” she added with a sniff, nodding at me.“She’sbarrenyou know.Triedfor twenty years to give your uncle an heir and never caught pregnant evenonce.”
Kor’s face hardened and he pulled me closer and put an arm around my shoulders.
“How dare you speak that way?Howdare you insult aMoonWidow?”Hedemanded.
Mrs.Browder’sface went brick red, but she didn’t back down.Instead, she lifted her chin.
“So?It’strue, isn’t it?ThenewLeaderof theBlackridgePackneeds to have heirs to carry on his line.OurPackhas been cursed for generations butIknow myCynthia-Anncould help you break that curse.I’lleven knock her bride price down to a single dollar—that’s how sureIam of her fertility.”
Kor looked even angrier.
“So you’re offering tosellyour daughter to me?”Heglanced at me, andIknew he was thinking of howIhad been sold toCarter.“Haveyou even asked her if that’s what she wants?”Hedemanded, looking at the shiveringCynthia-Annwhose dull blue eyes were shiny with unshed tears.
“Doesn’t matter what she wants—she knows she has to serve the best interests of thePack,”Mrs.Browdersaid.“She’sa virgin butI’vetrained her right.She’llspread her thighs for you whenever you ask, and you just wait and see if she doesn’t pop up with a swelled belly in a month or two from the first time you take her.”
Kor gave her a disgusted look.
“What’swrongwith you people?Thisgirl is achild.”
“She’s not—she’s nineteen thisOctober!”Mrs.Browderexclaimed.“She’swoman enough to bear your heirs—don’t you worry about that.”
“I didn’t come here becauseIwanted heirs,”Korsnapped, apparently losing his patience.“Idon’t want tobuyyour daughter and impregnate her.I’mnot a pedophile or a rapist.Nowwill you please let me pass?VivienneandIneed to get home.”
Mrs.Browder’sface turned ugly and went from red to purple.
“Oh, so myCynthia-Annisn’t good enough for you,Mr.High-and-MightyAlpha, is that it?Youthink you can do better with that barren old bitch your uncle used up and threw away?”
If she had been a man,Iwas sureKorwould have punched her.Helooked like he wanted to—his jaw clenched tight, and his hand clamped down on mine in a way that was almost painful.
“LadyVivienneis aMoonWidowwho deserves your respect,” he said, and his voice had dropped to a low, menacing growl.“Ifyou speak ill of her again, you’re going to be very,verysorry whenItake over asPackLeader.Doyou understand?”
As he spoke, his chocolate brown eyes went wolf-gold, and he seemed to grow bigger somehow.Isaw what looked like a shadow gathering around him—Idon’t know what it was, but it wasn’t a normalShift.Itwas as though the wolf inside him had another face—a more frightening one thanI’dever seen before.
This transformation was too much forCynthia-Annwho pulled her hand from her mother’s grip with a squeal of fear and ran away as fast as she could.Isaw her look over her shoulder just once, as though to make sureKorwasn’t chasing her and then she was gone, her long braids flying out behind her.
EvenMrs.Browderlooked cowed—though still angry.
“Yes,AlphaKorwyn,” she said, bowing her head unwillingly.“Iunderstand you perfectly.”
“Good.Nowleave me thefuckalone,”Korsnarled.
Mrs.Browdergave a stiff nod and stalked off, her shoulders tight with tension.Korstood there, watching her go, a low growl rumbling deep in his chest.Hiseyes were wild and thoughIwould have said he was around six foot five or six normally, now he was definitely at least seven feet tall.
What was happening to him?
Whatever it was, it wasn’t a normalShift.I’dseen enough of those in my lifetime, being raised in thePackand then sold to thePackLeader.Everyfull moonI’dseen the men around me shed their human forms and become wolves.Butthere was something different about the energyIfelt aroundKorright now—something that wasn’t exactly a wolf, but wasn’t a man, either.
I felt a cold finger of fear trace down my spine asIlooked up at him.Herewas a sideIhadn’t seen before—a side that wasn’t right somehow—wasn’t normal.
And yet,Ifelt drawn to him anyway—maybe even more than before.Despitemy fear or maybe because of it,Iwantedhim, even thoughIknewIcould never have him.Notreally.
