Chapter 26 #2
And that pissed him off. He’d built up his pack to be different from all the others, and not just in might and power but in their beliefs as well.
He’d always believed that the shifter laws required tweaking, and he had built up his pack to be capable of taking on that task.
It was fucking stupid to him that some long-dead ancestors determined who he could claim as his mate.
Alpha battles were archaic too. He’d always believed that Alphas should be allowed to pass on their reign to their Betas when the time came, rather than Betas having to battle for the position.
But he hadn’t challenged any of the laws; there wasn’t a reason to. Until now.
Reluctantly, he released her.
“We can’t work,” Jury reiterated as she huffed a laugh, then nodded and scrambled to her feet. She made a beeline for the door just as the scent of her anguish hit him.
“Stop!” he bellowed, with a lash of Alpha authority that had Jury slamming to a halt. Getting to his feet, he walked to her and slowly circled around before stopping to tower over her. “Look at me,” he commanded, and her eyes slowly tracked up as a lone tear slipped free from the corner of her eye.
“I choose who I take as a mate,” he growled low and deep, using his voice to remind her just how Alpha he was.
“No rules, no authority, no expectations, no traditions, no elders, no enemies tell me otherwise. Do you understand?” The only response he got was another tear sliding down her cheek, and it fucking gutted him.
She thought that they weren’t in control of their destiny.
She believed there wasn’t a way for them.
Which meant he’d have to show her there was, but first he’d have to make that way.
Sucking in a steadying breath against the desperate need to lift her off her feet and shove her up against the wall while burying his teeth in her throat and his cock in her sweet heat, Koe dropped the weighty cloak of his authority and took a step back in silent permission for her to leave.
It only took a beat for Jury to rush for the door.
“This isn’t finished, and neither are we,” he threw at her retreating back. “And, Jury…” he paused when she stopped and turned to look at him. Using the full weight of his Alpha conviction, he informed, “You’re not on my radar. You are my fucking radar.”
Her mouth parted, and she held his gaze just a moment before she turned and hurried away.
Alone, Koe snarled and fisted his hair with both hands.
His chest felt tight, and his dick was so fucking hard he could barely stand it.
He was dizzy with the lust pounding through him.
His wolf wanted Jury even more now that she thought he couldn’t have her.
Ears ringing with the need to race after Jury, carry her to his room, and make her his in every manner possible, Koe snarled a ferocious sound and exited the sitting room.
He needed to fuck or fight, but he’d get the relief of neither because his top priority was contacting the Blackbird pack in Montana’s Glacier National Park.
He needed rules changed, or exceptions made, and for that, he’d need the Blackbird pack on his side.
Because if they weren’t, then Koe was taking his Allegiance pack to war because yeah, Jury fucking Warmont of the enemy Biters pack meant that much to him, and he’d have her come hell or high water.
He double-timed it up to his office, distracted with his mission.
Distracted. He shook his head. It finally made sense when, all those years ago, his dad told him that females were the true Alphas of a pack.
“They’ll distract you to your detriment.
” And Jury was distracting him. Right now, he’d eat his own damn shoes if Jury asked him to, and that was worrisome too.
Because she’d been right to remind him that she was from an enemy pack.
And she just conveniently wound up in my territory?
Koe had to wonder if Jury was in his territory without a motive.
Was she sent to tame the Alpha? Were her scars a ploy?
It was an angle he hadn’t considered until now.
Now, that he was willing to go to war for her.
And he was. He was willing to burn the Biters to ash to avenge her because he believed her. But should he believe her?
Fuck!
Was he playing into their hands? At first, he’d assumed she’d just been sent to infiltrate the pack, but what if she’d been specifically chosen to seduce him, the Alpha?
Pissed that he hadn’t considered this scenario from the jump, he tossed a glare over his shoulder at the landing that led to her room.
Is she playing me?
The thought had his heart thundering in his chest. Her sweet, delicate demeanor was just the thing to dupe an Alpha like him.
Someone so gentle and appealing would call on any good Alpha’s protective instincts.
Did Bragga know that, or was he giving the Biter Alpha more credit than he deserved?
Worse, was he demeaning Jury? And could he afford not to?
Torn, he knew that as Alpha, it was his responsibility to do his due diligence, but as a man could he? He didn’t believe that there was a deceitful bone in Jury’s body. But knowing that Narae, her sister, could mask the scent of her lies had Koe wondering if Jury could do the same.
Fuck!
There was so much to do. He knew Bragga and his Biters were coming; he just didn’t know when.
He knew he needed to talk to the Blackbird pack about getting rules changed, but did he bother with that now?
And he knew he needed to find out if Jury and Narae were legit or if they were deceiving him and his pack, but he didn’t know how to do that.
His pack was goddamn mess right now, and it was because he’d let Jury and Narae in.
He needed to find out if they were deserving of that grace and that took priority over all else.