Chapter 15 #2
The stubborn little wolf.
“Tell me what I need to know. How did Ember get involved in the challenge?”
“The pack had a decent alpha for years,” Cohen says.
“He was an honorable wolf, by all accounts. Aimes came in and took him out seven or eight months ago. The new alpha tried and failed to force the previous alpha’s widow to mate with him.
He imprisoned Sofia. Her brother attempted to challenge the alpha, but it was going to be a bloodbath. Your mate intervened.”
“And none of the males thought to stop her?” I growl, fighting my beast for control. He can’t fathom the idea that other shifters stood by and didn’t intercede.
“None of the wolves present were strong enough to stop her,” Cohen says, ducking under a branch. “She killed the alpha that no male in the pack had a hope of defeating…”
My anger grows the closer we get to the edge of the forest.
Tugging in my wings, I shiver at the uncomfortable feeling of having them disappear into my human form. Ever since I was little, I’ve always hated having to keep them tucked away.
I exhale heavily and grab the warlock’s arm. “Tell me how bad it is.”
“Her injuries?” He shakes out of my hold. “Or her chances of surviving whatever comes next?”
“Her injuries,” I snarl.
Nothing will hurt her from here on out, because I’ll be at her side, watching her sexy little ass every moment of the day and night.
“Not bad,” Cohen replies, shoving up his glasses as he walks at an angle. “She was conscious before the healer gave her a tea to counter the wolfsbane. She would have been better off if her wolf didn’t decide to eat Aimes’s heart to ensure he couldn’t regenerate.”
I laugh.
God, I love that pretty little lunatic.
My dragon has been anxious to escape, but hearing her actions, he turns smug. He’s sure he picked a good mate for us, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Cohen brings the alpha’s body to a building and drops the carcass on a stone slab. Once he’s done, he locks up and guides us closer to the small…village?
Town?
Commune?
Whatever the hell it is.
He bypasses several small cottages, and one of the houses farther away from the others comes into view as he beelines for it.
My head stays on a swivel, memorizing all the details I can pick up while constantly appraising for threats.
Two men stand outside the front door of the house Cohen guides us to. There are three wooden steps up to the old porch, and they creak with my weight. The place is old but not dilapidated.
Cohen nods at the men, but the guy on the right jolts, falling back into the wall when he spots me.
I freeze.
Fuck. My. Life.
He’s easily recognizable.
That night five years ago, when Ember’s brothers and I came onto pack lands to search for her piece-of-shit sperm donor, replays in my mind.
The guy on the right witnessed us kidnapping Carson. His packmate did, too, but neither enforcer stepped in to do a thing to protect their corrupt alpha. Which is why Bryant still draws breath.
“Where’s Burke?” I’m fairly sure that was the name of the enforcer he was with that night, but it could be something else starting with a B.
Cohen hisses out a breath and spins to face me. “You knew the former alpha?” He shoves up his glasses. “The one before Aimes.”
If Aimes is the alpha Ember fought and won against tonight, and Burke was the alpha before Aimes, that means Burke took over in the power vacuum left when we killed Carson.
Shit. That probably didn’t leave him in a great position, considering the pack had been led by Ember’s dad’s biological family for hundreds of years.
“You knew Burke?” Cohen repeats a little louder this time.
“We met once,” I clarify. “I had no issue with him.” My eyes meet Burke’s packmate guarding the door. “Nor with you.”
“Burke is dead,” Bryant says, his jaw tensing. “Aimes killed him.”
Shifters age extremely slowly, but they aren’t truly immortal. If you remove their head or heart, they can’t come back from it.
An alpha challenge doesn’t have to end in death if one concedes defeat, but apparently, neither did. That, or Aimes wanted to make a point of killing Burke to set the tone for his rule.
“I didn’t know any of that,” I say, bowing my head out of respect. “He seemed like an honorable wolf.”
“He was,” Bryant agrees. “And it’s what got him killed. Aimes used wolfsbane. The same as he did tonight.”
My eyes flash, showing my dragon’s displeasure. “I’d like to see my mate now.”
“Wait, put the pieces together for me.” Bryant pushes off the wall of the house and takes a step toward me. “Please. My mate is still suffering. Losing Burke was…” His head shakes. “It was hard on all of us. That night, you said you had no concern with who took Carson’s place.”
That night five years ago…I didn’t.
All I knew was that I needed to help Ember’s brothers remove her biological father from the equation, so he couldn’t petition the paranormal council for visitation.
“I wished no ill will on your packmate,” I assure him. “Whoever took over after Carson…” I shake my head. “I had nothing to do with that, and I’m sorry for the way it played out.”
“Carson’s family ruled for generations,” Bryant says.
“And now the rightful heir has claimed her title as alpha,” I say firmly. “Ember is Carson’s biological daughter.”
The warlock doesn’t blink, but both Bryant and the other man have violent reactions.
“That’s why you killed him?” Bryant sputters.
“We killed Carson to prevent him from trying to sell his daughter off as a broodmare.” My teeth grind together at the thought.
“He had it coming for other transgressions, but that was the final nail in his coffin.” My face twists into a grimace as I remember…
“My mate is unaware of my participation in that particular activity. Don’t mention it before I have the chance. ”
I will tell her. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us that, if they came out later on, we might struggle to come back from. I’m just beginning to earn my way back into her good graces, and I’m not sure how this will impact that.
I will tell her, though. Likely sooner than I ever planned.