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My shoulders sag. “But…”
Sondra shoots me a look that says to not test her, and I chuckle, following her around the back of the house.
She leads us to the back, where the chop shop is. I am nervous but feeling the women’s excitement, I find it contagious.
Now, as a fully-fledged pack, we even share a pack link. And the thrumming through my body hasn’t relented since they submitted. I can feel every single one of the women as if they are an extension of me.
Upon entering the chop shop, there is a small furnace, and I glance around as the women start removing their shirts. Sondra moves toward the bonfire and pulls a huge branding iron out of the flames.
“You’re up first, Alpha.” She smiles.
I look at the brand, knowing it must have been custom-made. It is a crescent moon rising above a blooming lotus.
I take my shirt off, earning some whistles from the other women, making me laugh.
“Today is the awakening and birth of Alpha Elena Bardot. This brand represents the birth and rising of your pack,” Sondra tells me, and I stare at the glowing metal and suck in a breath.
“Now, where do you want it, Alpha?” Sondra asks, and I nod, knowing the women are waiting for me to go first. Michelle and Noleen come over and grab my arms as I give her my back.
Seconds later, I feel blistering heat sear through my shoulder blade, making me scream. The pain is horrendous, and I sag when she removes it. The skin is raw and still burns fiercely even once I find my feet while the stench of burning skin lingers in the air.
Yet the women love the idea, and honestly, so do I. Even Sondra becomes an honorary member of our pack by getting one as well. But none of the children are branded. As we go to leave the huge garage, Luke growls at me.
“Where’s mine?”
Mom and I both shake our heads.
“Luke, no!” Mom tells him, but he ignores her, grabbing the smoldering brand out of the drum.
“Luke, you just watched a few of the women pass out getting theirs,” I remind him.
But still, he shakes his head.
“Let him. The little Alpha knows what he wants,” Sondra says with a shrug.
“He’s a child,” I snap at her, and she shrugs.
“He wants it.”
I look at my mother, who chews her lip. She growls but gives in to him, while I want to throw up at the thought of burning my eleven-year-old brother. We spend ten minutes trying to talk him out of it.
Cursing, I know he won’t give up.
“Remember, you asked for this.” I tell him pointedly.
He nods eagerly. I shake my head when my mother mind links.
“Just touch him and pull it back. Don’t hold it,” she tells me.
I was planning to do that anyway because I don’t want to do it all.
“Please, Elena. I don’t want to be a Hale. I want to be a Bardot, too,” Luke pleads.
“You are, though. You already submitted. We have changed your name,” I tell him.
Luke shakes his head. “I want Dad to know, for him to see it and know that no matter what he does, even if he tries to take us back, I’ll always belong to this pack. That nobody else is worthy of being my Alpha but you.”
I chew my lip, still reluctant.
