“I…thinkIknow what you’re talking about,”Isaid faintly.Icould see why the terrifying thing from my dream would be more than a match for any normalWere’swolf during a challenge.
“Good.SomyBeastis twice as strong as any otherWere’swolf,”Kortold me.“That’swhyI’mnot worried about theAlphaChallenge, and you shouldn’t be either.AndI’lltell you something else…”Heleaned forward, smiling a little.“OnceI’mdeclared thePackLeader,Ican take you as my mate and there’s nothing they can do about it.ThePackLeaderis the only male allowed to breed aMoonWidow, so that will take care of yourHeatCycletoo.”
I shook my head regretfully.
“I wishIcould believe things are going to work out so neatly, butIdon’t think thePackElderswill let you take me for a mate—even if you do win theAlphaChallenge,”Itold him.
“What?”Hefrowned.“Whynot?”
“BecauseIwas married to your uncle,”Ireminded him.“Andeven though there isn’t any blood connection between us,I’malmost sure theElderswill say that you mating me would be breaking one of the otherUnbreakablelaws—the one that states that family members can’t breed together.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he growled.“YouandIdon’t have any blood relation at all.AndCarterwas really only my half uncle, since he and my father had different mothers.”
I shook my head again.
“Doesn’t matter.Iknow how they think—they won’t accept you asPackLeader, even if you win the challenge—if you insist on taking me as your mate.”
“Then why are we bothering with this at all?”Kordemanded.
“This?”Iasked.
“This…all of this.ThePack, theAlphaChallenge—why should we stay here?Whyshould we care what they think or strive for their ideals when they’ll just try to keep us away from each other?”he asked.
I stared at him blankly for a moment.
“Well…becauseI’maMoonWidow,”Isaid slowly.“I’mtied to the town—toWolvertonManor.I’msupposed to live the rest of my life upholdingCarter’slegacy and name.”
“And what exactly do you get out of that except a lonely existence rattling around a big old house by yourself?”Korasked, frowning.
“Nothing,Isuppose,”Iadmitted.Itwould be different ifIwanted to be alone, but sinceI’dmet him,Ididn’t want that anymore.Iwanted to spend the rest of my life with him—thoughIwasn’t quite brave enough to say so.
“So why should we stay?”he asked, reasonably.“Look,Ihave my own business back inColoradoandIdo quite well for myself.Ican support us both—let’s just book some plane tickets and get the hell out of here.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying…and yet,Iloved the idea.Ithad never occurred to me thatIcould just leave.Evenwith all ofCarter’smoney in my private account,Ihadn’t thought about leavingWolvertonManorandBlackridgeand going to start a new life somewhere.
“I…Idon’t know whyIdidn’t think of that earlier,”Isaid at last.
“You’ve been conditioned to think you belong here—but you don’t,Vivienne.”Korlooked at me earnestly.“Thisplace—this town and thisPack—have stolen enough of your life.Let’sget out of here—let’s travel the world and spend time together and love each other without anyone looking over our shoulders, judging us all the time.”
I began to catch his vision, andIfelt my heart leap with hope.
“Can we go toFrance?AndItaly?AndSpain?”Iasked eagerly.
He laughed.
“Anywhere you want, baby.We’llgo all over the place.”
“I just want to go anyplace at all that’s notBlackridge,”Isaid, honestly.“Iwant to see placesI’venever seen before—Iwant to hear people speaking different languages and taste exotic foods and walk on the beach at sunset.”
“Yes, all of that—we can do all of that,”Koragreed, nodding.Hegot up from the table so fast he nearly knocked his chair over.“Look,I’llgo get us some plane tickets for tomorrow—what do you say?Whileeveryone else is getting ready for theAlphaChallenge, we’ll be hundreds of miles away, starting our new lives together.”
His words filled me with joy and hope.Icould finally get out of here!Ihad never liked the people of theBlackridgePack, and they had never liked me.WhyshouldIgive them one more minute of my life?NeitherKornorIneeded them and their narrow-minded, judgmental ways.Wecould get out of here—we could be free!
“Let’s do it!”Iexclaimed.“Let’sget some plane tickets and leave early tomorrow morning!”Ibit my lip.“Butwe’d better be someplace where it’s safe for you toShifton the full moon night, though—right?”
“Don’t worry about that,”Kortold me.“I’llget us tickets back to my place.IcanShiftand hunt that night with the moon and then we’ll plan the next part of our adventure.”
“Just seeing anyplace butBlackridgeandWolvertonManorwill be an adventure for me,”Iadmitted.“But…will you want me to meet your, er, ‘cursed wolf’ tomorrow night?Iknow whenIfirst got married toCarter, we had a ceremony in theMoonGladefor me to meet his.”
