“It’s okay, Jay. I can find my own way back, even if I have to walk. It wasn’t that far.” Playing a hunch, I reached over and patted his shoulder.
He startled, staring at me with wide eyes. I felt his muscles tense, then immediately relax under my hand. Squeezing once, I released him.
Jay cocked his head, looking at me with something close to suspicion. The thing about playing hierarchy was that some people just liked to know who the biggest alpha in the room was. They didn’t want to be the top dog themselves, but they liked to know. In his heart of hearts, Jay wanted to know who was stronger: me or Jesaiah.
Calm confidence, a reassurance that I was going to win, no matter what it came down to, was enough to convince Jay subconsciouslyIwas the one at the top of the dog pile.
Nodding, Jay turned and headed back down the path. As he walked, I saw him take one of the rocks out of his pocket. He tossed it seemingly at random into the brush. Then he was gone, the forest embracing him.
“So, the little prince went and got himself a big bad alpha.” Jesaiah was still smiling, but there was something tense to it now. “My master said he wouldn’t be able to find anyone.”
I remembered how he’d saidwe don’t play those games here. He’d said it kindly, as though he was giving me an out. But now that I looked at him, I wondered if it was becausehedidn’t want to have to fight for his position. He might pretend he wasn’t alpha, but when you were the oldest, most well-respected member of a group of wolves who would never be able to call themselves a pack…
Well, alpha was about the best word you could call someone in that situation.
“I’m just here for Cade. I’m not here to cause any trouble.” I kept my hands loose at my side, no claws sprouting from my fingertips.
Not that any claws could. I had been effectively neutered. The part of me that had reacted on seeing Jesaiah was still there. It wanted to shift and fight and bear him to the ground by his throat until he submitted, showing his belly like the old, weak alpha he was.
But if I could have shifted, I would have done so in that moment. Something was wrong. Really wrong, and the terror of it made my heart beat faster, made me snap a little harder than I should have when Jesaiah said calmly, “You seem like the sort of boy who finds trouble wherever he goes, regardless if you’re looking for it.”
“Yeah? Are you about to offer me some of that trouble I’m not looking for?” I felt the wolf under my skin, rubbing my senses raw.
I couldsmellJesaiah, feel the pressure of the power that he held. He was an alpha in the old-school sense. He didn’t need to scrabble and claw and push his way to the top to hold that title.
He wasbornan alpha. The way that I was.
When he looked at me, there was none of the kindly old man, none of the werewolf that Jay trusted. Everything about him was sharp and powerful.
My hackles rose, and I felt a not-quite-audible growl vibrating in my throat. “I thought we were being friendly, Jesaiah.”
“Wearebeing friendly,” Jesaiah said, his teeth lengthening, his snout forming. His eyes went dark.
He was a strong alpha, and part of me wanted to prostrate myself in front of him, show my belly and whine until he let me go. That was the part I had thought died with my family. I turned, bracing my arms and legs, ready to leap backward if he attacked.
“Now,” Jesaiah spoke distinctly. “I can smell the Castillo Pack on you. So you’re going to tell me what you’re doing here before I rip your throat out.”
I froze. Of all the things I had expected him to say, that wasn’t one of them. It had to have been his note. He was the one who knew who I was.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no pack. No last name.” Narrowing my eyes, I spit his own words back at him. “You said we all come from different places when we become consorts. Mine isn’t a happy one.”
“I’m sure it isn’t.” Jesaiah leaned forward, his nose becoming dark and damp. He sniffed at me, inches away from my face.
I didn’t flinch.
“I was here eleven years ago. I remember what they smelled like. The dirt. The ill breeding. That grasping desperation.” His words became a growl, spittle dripping from his jaws.
It was strange seeing him only half shifted. I could see the bones of the werewolf he would become. He was massive, coming halfway up my biceps.
But the gray from age was more obvious in his wolf form. Patches of dry, brittle white fur ran in streaks down his back and around his eyes.
“Well, then you need to get your nose checked, old man. I’ve never been in the Castillo Pack.” I jerked my chin up. “You’re getting old, Jesaiah. Jumping at ghosts.”
I made some quick calculations, remembering the question I’d asked myself last night. Who lost power if I came into the picture? Jesaiah had said that they weren’t a pack in the typical sense. Instead, they relied on the structure of House Bartlett to tell them where they stood compared to other wolves.
So who was powerful enough that only the prince’s own consort would displace him? The answer came to me instantly: Leon.
“You’re scared that I’m going to come in and take over your little pack. I’m the prince’s consort. Soon, I’m going to be theking’sconsort. And you’re going to be tied to your seneschal.” I scrunched my face together, tilting my head. “That sounds like I’m going to be the new boss in town, Alpha.”
