My father’s hand resembles a whip on the wind, slamming across my mother’s cheek and sending her to the ground. “You willneverspeak my name again, you fucking whore.” He follows it up with a kick to her stomach, then another to her head, knocking her out cold on the field.
My wolf reacts with a snarl, furious at his treatment of his mate.
Mates are meant to be revered and cherished and protected.
His eyes find mine, the fury in those dark orbs unlike any I’ve ever seen. He takes a step toward me, but Alpha Bryson holds him back with a palm to his chest. “This isn’t your punishment to give, Gaf.”
“No, it belongs to my son. He’s the one most insulted here. He’s the one you’ve duped with an unqualified mate. He will choose their fates.” Alpha Crane looks to Canton. “The decision is yours.”
I try to stand, but my legs are awkward and refuse to hold my weight.
This… this has to be a nightmare.
How can I have white fur?
My mother was raped?
By… by a Black Mountain wolf?
My heart is pounding so hard in my chest that I don’t hear Canton’s approach. But I smell him, the scent of cedar and man calling to my wolf on a base level.
Mate, she whispers to me, purring in approval.
But the feeling is not reciprocated.
I can see the hatred in his eyes, the fury at having this whole arrangement ruined by my white coat.
Except, I’m still me.
I’m still the wolf my parents raised me to be.
I… I just have white fur.
Not black.
Maybe he’ll demand I never shift again?
A laughable suggestion. Because our children will still be tainted by my mixed heritage.
He crouches before me, his striking blue eyes glittering beneath the moonlight. I try to bow my head, but my wolf refuses. She wants to challenge him; to challenge them all.
She refuses to accept whatever fate he chooses for her. She’s too strong to bow.
Yet she can’t even stand.
I scream at her to lower her eyes.
She doesn’t.
And Canton starts to glare. “You dare challenge me, little wolf?”
No!I want to scream, but I can’t. I can’t speak. I can’t move. My wolf is in control now. I’ve denied her for so many years that she’s absolutely refusing to let me run the show now.
He growls.
And to my absolute horror, my wolf growls back.
“You’re just proving to me and all my men that you can’t be tamed,” he tells me, his voice almost sad as he shakes his head. “A shame. I could have added you to my harem.” He stands fully, his shoulders squaring in a way that makes my wolf snarl.
