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"I wouldn't make a good Alpha, but your mate would."
That hits me in a way I can't really describe. Did Thorn just compliment me somehow?
"Look at it this way. With Liam becoming the Alpha, he will solve his problem and the council's problem in one move. You know that if you tried to take your brother and his mother away, Arthur would come for you, and potentially the whole pack if Mic was still in control. You will most certainly have the support of Eli, but do you really want to start a war when one fight can solve this whole problem?"
"Thorn's right. If I challenge Mic and win, which I would, I can release Sarah from Dad, and she can live free of his influence." I've never wanted to be Alpha; in fact, I have run away from many of the higher positions because of what my dad wanted. But this could save a lot of people, and I need to consider that.
Paige huffs and falls back into my arms. "I don't like it."
I kiss the top of her head and hum, acknowledging her words.
"I've made a few calls. One of our enforcement teams will be here by morning; just in case the worst happens, we will have an elite team for backup."
Paige sits up and looks at Thorn. "How many people are coming?"
"It's a team of six."
"Six! Only six people. How will they handle an entire pack if this all goes sideways? The pack has close to three hundred people."
Thorn pushes himself off the wall and walks a bit closer to us. He can tell Paige is having a hard time, and for a man who doesn't show his emotions very often, you can tell how much he loves his sister.
"These are some of the most deadly people in the shifter world. I promise they will be enough."
Paige looks at me, fear in her eyes. "Do you really want to do this?"
No, no, I do not.
"It's not what I set out to do, but this could help a lot of people. You know just as well as I do that a lot of them are just trying to survive. This could protect Ben; I have to do it." I can tell how hard this is for her, but she also sees the truth in what I'm saying.
"Fine. But you can't die on me…I just got you."
I kiss her lips and nod my head, because words have left me. I know I can beat Mic; let's just hope he doesn't pull anything shady.
"We'll head out early in the morning. Hopefully, this will catch him off guard enough that he can't cheat."
Apparently, we are on the same wavelength. I nod, and Thorn heads out the door, leaving me with Paige curled up in my arms.
Chapter 21 - Paige
I walk out of the bathroom to Liam sitting on the bed, flipping through the TV channels, but I need a snack. Emotional eating may not be the healthiest of coping mechanisms, but I'm not going to berate myself over this when I could lose my mate tomorrow.
I need to tell Liam I love him—hell, I need to tell him I'm pregnant. But part of me thinks that if I tell him, then it will be like a 'hey, just before you die, I love you' type of moment. You know, the one where the hero dies. Yeah, nope, I don't want that, but I also don't want him to go into this without knowing. What the hell should I do?
Our rooms are on the opposite side of the motel from the vending machines, but it's worth it to get a chocolatey snack. The snow crunches under my feet as I walk under the single lamp outside the reception office. Looking through the glass window, the variety of options momentarily stops me. I hate having so many decisions; decision paralysis is a real thing, and when I am highly emotional, I can't think about what I want. I'm standing and staring at the selection when a shadow passes across the glass, causing me to turn around, but I don't turn all the way before someone wraps their arm around me, wrenching my arms behind my back. I let out the loudest scream possible before another person shoves a gag in my mouth.
I'm pulling and twisting trying to get out of the hold this guy has me in when his sickly voice comes over the top of my struggle.
"Now, now, Paige. You don't want to hurt yourself further, do you? Struggling against me is futile. I can make this painful or very painful; the choice is yours."
His disgusting breath heats up the side of my face. I can't stop the tears that are falling from my eyes. I'm stubborn, so I try and twist out of his grasp, but he tightens it further. The other shifter comes over and slaps me across the face. Pain radiates down my left side, and my head is spinning from the strike. The shifter who isn't holding me spits on the ground.
"I don't get what Alpha Mic sees in her. What the hell does he want with such a disgusting shifter?"
My gut turns; Mic wants me? He's sent these idiots to take me?
"You want to lose your head? Don't question what he wants. All we were told was to grab the girl and take her back to him to mate." A wave of nausea comes over me, and I'm afraid if this gag isn't removed, I will be choking on my own vomit.
"Fuck, that's disgusting."
