Chapter 35
Valarie
Rufus kept glancing my way uncomfortably, but one look from Morgan had him standing and minding his own business a good way away.
“Going home?” Morgan asked in a lightly taunting voice.
I nodded, trying to keep composed.
She was an intimidating alpha. Her companions stayed silent and perfectly still as she spoke.
I noticed then that their car wasn’t parked away from the Kingdom, as would make sense, but back toward it.
Our eyes met and she knew.
Slowly, she took a slim cigarette out of a pack and without looking, handed the pack to a beta who took it immediately. She lit the cigarette with a sleek lighter and pressed it to her lips, letting it hang just at the edge. She didn’t inhale but let the smoke curl into the air around her.
“We weren’t really expecting anyone else to be on the road so early,” she commented.
I stayed quiet, following the lead of everyone else involved.
She was considering me with narrowed eyes, and I did my best to stand perfectly still and appear impassive.
With a wave, she sent her companions away, off toward a nearby copse of trees. Then she straightened and closed the short distance between us, circling me, looking me up and down.
I wished suddenly that I had worn something other than jeans and a simple t-shirt. My hair, at least, was slightly under control today.
“My sources tell me you spent quite a bit of time with the King during the hunt.”
The words shot right through me. My eyes widened.
She was standing behind me, closer than she needed to be. I could feel the exhale of smoke on my neck and smell the nicotine.
“A few nights. A few mornings. The other alphas may have been busy fighting for his attention, but you’re clearly the one who had it. I was more occupied with getting information. If you couldn’t guess.”
I glanced at her face as she came around the front of me.
If she wanted to play it that way—hard and fast—then so be it.
“So, the rumors are true?” I shot back. “You’re looking for a way to overthrow him.”
She didn’t seem surprised by my accusation, but leaned against the car instead, taking the cigarette from her lips.
“You have to admit, he’s been an airheaded leader. His mother has made most of the choices during his reign. While he’s occupied himself with… other pursuits.”
Her eyes traveled over my body as she said it and I felt dirty. Somehow, she’d figured out what exactly Gabriel and I had gotten up to.
“You don’t think he’s fit to be Alpha?” I asked boldly.
She snorted. “Do you, really? Does he have the traits of an Alpha?”
Morgan watched me closely as I mulled it over, at first only trying for the appearance of it, but then actually considering her question.
Gabriel was, without a doubt, strong. A large man, a large wolf. But I thought back to wrestling with him in the forest—in both human and wolf form—and how he’d been somewhat clumsy about it. Not quite fully trained. Would he really do well in any sort of fight?
There was his cold demeanor, though. But I frowned thinking of it.
Thinking of all the times I’d seen his face completely open.
How much younger he looked. He’s anything but cold, I thought to myself, trying to fight back the memories of how intimate we’d been.
Morgan would be able to read them all over my face.
But she was right. I admitted it to myself reluctantly, realizing that I’d noticed it for some time.
Gabriel—the real Gabriel—didn’t act like an Alpha.
Otherwise, our entire relationship would have hinged on domination.
Submission. But that very first night he’d submitted to me by doing what he could to make me more comfortable, even in the middle of such a heated situation.
“It doesn’t bother you?” she asked, her voice softened just enough for me to feel comfortable meeting her eyes.
“What?”
“That he took up with you and then tossed you aside so easily. That he chose your Alpha over you.”
My stomach twisted at the words.
It did bother me. It definitely bothered me.
Leaving things the way we had, I couldn’t stop seeing his face in my mind, his flushed cheeks and the depth to his eyes that wasn’t there when he was being Alpha.
It stung to know that Sophia had him now.
I couldn’t hate her for it, she didn’t know what he was to me, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting.
“Why do you ask?” I said, being careful to make my voice lazy.
Morgan had an objective here. I just wasn’t quite sure what it was.
She glanced back at her pack members as they milled nearby, talking and smoking cigarettes of their own.
“We’re going back,” she said simply. “And you could join us if you wanted to. The more the merrier.”
I was surprised by such an open invitation when this seemed like something she should be keeping quiet.
“Going back to do what, exactly?”
Her eyes were hard as they met mine.
“You said it yourself, earlier. Going back to overthrow him. It’s time the packs had a new Alpha.”
It was clear that she had herself in mind for the position.
I thought back to the sparring; how well she’d done.
And she’d placed high in the obstacle course as well.
As a wolf, she was impressive. The rumor was that she’d purposely made herself scarce during the final Hunt so that Gabriel wouldn’t be able to choose her if he, for whatever reason, had the notion.
She was smart, cunning, strong. And dangerous.
I thought of Sophia back at the Kingdom. She had no idea what was coming.
“Can you give me a few minutes?” I asked, shifting to try and look a bit more casual. “My family is expecting me. I’ll need to let them know I decided to stay behind and help the princess prepare a little more.”
Morgan’s eyes lit up, a smirk curling her lips as the smoke obscured part of her face.
“Of course,” she said lightly, shoving herself off the car and tipping the ash from her cigarette. “We’ll wait while you get your things together. Then you can come with us.”
I went to our car and rummaged around in my luggage until I found the thick butcher’s paper that my mother’s fabrics were wrapped in. Ripping off a piece, I signaled to Rufus, and he found me a pen inside the glove compartment.
I’m staying in the Kingdom a little longer, I wrote out quickly.
I’ve decided to take a tour of the surrounding territories while I’m here.
Rufus should have a package for you—in it are two letters for you, Dad, and Jason.
He said to go to the Kingdom whenever you’re ready and you’ll be welcomed.
Just be careful, please. The people here are very different from our Autumn Pack.
I love you. Good luck. I’ll see you soon.
As I wrote it, I hoped the last part wasn’t true. I knew my family would need time to absorb the information—the fact that both my father and brother could join the guilds—and prepare themselves for a trip to the Kingdom.
Hopefully, by the time they actually got there, all of this was over with.
I glanced over my shoulder at Morgan, who was once again reigning over her small group of betas. They began to pile into the car behind hers.
“Can you bring this to my parents?” I asked Rufus, shoving the folded letter into his hands.
He looked baffled but nodded.
“And that bag,” I said. “It’s for them, too. Don’t lose it. I’m going to take the other with me.”
“What are you—” he began, but I swung the door shut and hurried toward the Blue Pack’s cars. Morgan appraised me as I approached.
“Good,” she said as I placed my bag in the trunk. “We could use another strong wolf. And someone who knows his… weaknesses.”
She said it with a grin, her voice full of poison, and I avoided her eyes.
In the passenger seat of the beta car, I was in the perfect position to observe everyone in the rearview mirror.
Apparently, they trusted their alpha enough to not question the new girl in the group. They talked openly about their plans, made jokes about Gabriel, and clearly couldn’t wait to fight.
It would be a blood bath, I knew. The Kingdom wasn’t prepared for an uprising, not when they were expecting things to settle for a bit.
But I wasn’t quite sure yet how Morgan thought she’d be able to pull this off.
I’d have to hang around and see… which meant fitting into the group and acting like I hated him.