She wants to rip him apart.
Because she’srejectinghim.
The realization hits me square in the chest, shocking me to silence.
And allowing my wolf to gain that much control.
I’m on my paws now, my legs stretching as she takes in the field of aggressive males. They smell wrong. Feral. Unacceptable.
She wants to shred them all to pieces.
Especially the one I’ve called father all my life.
She’s furious at him for hurting our mother. Seeing her dark hair sprawled across the ground, her eyes closed, her lips bleeding from my father’s slap, has my wolf taking a bold step forward.
Canton growls, this time menacingly. “Do not move,” he tells my wolf, his voice holding a power similar to his father.
My animal snarls in response, not bending to his will.
“This”—Alpha Crane points at me—“thisis why we fight the Black Mountain pack. They don’t understand hierarchy because their wolves are feral creatures without rules. They fuck and kill and do not obey.”
My wolf snorts as though she can understand his words.
She disagrees wholeheartedly, her disrespect having nothing to do with a lack of understanding and everything to do with her refusal to bow to him as her Alpha.
I don’t understand the inclination or where it comes from, but I can’t deny the sensation of rightness thrumming through my veins.
I don’t belong here, I realize.I never have.
That’s why my mother always lectured me on when to display my backbone. Other girls didn’t need that lesson, but I did. Because I’ve always been stronger. I’ve always questioned our methods.
While all the other females merely accepted them as law.
I thought that was what made me an Alpha female.
But my wolf tells me now that it’s never been about my inquisitive spirit. I’ve questioned everything all my life because I don’t belong here.
The wolves start to chant, causing the fur along my back to stand on end.
They want Canton’s decision.
They want vengeance.
They wantblood.
Because they blame me for existing. And my father’s expression tells me he blames me, too.
He’s not my father, I think.
Yet he raised me. Loved me. Groomed me for this position today. And now he’s disowning me before the pack.
I don’t hear the words, my heart beating too fast in my ears for whatever he’s saying to register in my mind. But disapproval and hatred radiate from his stiff form.
He kicks my mother again.
She’s not even awake or moving, the asshole taking advantage of her prone form.
He picks her up and tosses her to Alpha Crane’s feet.
