I had expected Dominic to feel a little betrayed, but I hadn't expected him to be furious.
His anger had shocked me, and at first, I'd dismissed his rage, certain that it would pass. We were still friends, and it didn't change how much we relied on each other, and that was what was important, right? Only Dominic had never gotten over my choosing someone else over him, and it became more and more apparent as the days wore on.
At first, the changes had been small, barely noticeable, and I'd brushed them off. But after a few weeks, it had become more and more apparent. Finally, everything came to a head when Dominic challenged Cal for the Beta position. I wanted to forbid the challenge, but I was stuck. I had no choice but to allow it, or it would look like I was putting my friendship above the well-being of the pack.
A good portion of the pack had expected Dominic to win, but they had been the ones who hadn't paid attention to Cal. Just because he was quiet didn't mean he was weak, and when the time came for the challenge, my Beta proved exactly why he was second in command.
The memory of the fight made me feel ill, but I had to face it. I could recall the smell of the challenge circle's dirt, and the sound of the pack as they gathered around to watch raptly. Cal had stood still, his hands clasped behind his back as Dominic stalked around him, his energy angry and restless. When Dominic exploded, attacking with a flurry of hits, Cal had avoided and absorbed them effortlessly.
Then, when Dominic was already breathing hard, Cal attacked with calculated precision, breaking Dominic down blow by blow. Cal won in the end, leaving Dominic furious in the dirt.
As soon as the dust settled, Dominic fled the pack, not even speaking a word to any of us. I'd thought he'd just needed space, but that conclusion wavered as the weeks passed.
Only that was the last time anyone saw Dominic. He'd vanished.
I hadn't believed he would just leave, but there was no trace of him. Not even his scent, as if he had just disappeared. No one in the pack had seen him, but a few weeks later, word came in that Dominic had taken up with a small group of rogue wolves that had been causing trouble up north. It had made me cold inside, thinking about the man I'd called brother abandoning everything, and joining with those who had no allegiance to any pack. Stories of the rogue's violence had filtered back to our pack, and I'd vowed to track Dominic down and bring him home before it was too late.
Before he did something so heinous that it made it impossible for him to be forgiven.
I'd gone on the hunt for the rogues, and it had led me to Brokenclaw territory. Now, with my entire memory restored, I could see that they must have been lying in wait for me, and that was why the attack had been so brutal. Dominic and the rogues had known I was coming. They'd known I was looking for him.
Knowing that he was willing to beat me nearly to death was a pain so powerful that I didn't know it was possible to feel like this. The betrayal had ripped a hole in me, and I wanted so badly to deny it. How could he have done that to me? To our pack?
And why in the fuck had my pack kept this from me? My father, Cal, Summer...any of them could have reminded me of Dominic, and that might have helped me recover my memories. Instead, they kept silent, slapping a hand over my mouth as stomach acid clawed up my throat.
If it hadn't been for Sage, I would have never known. Hell, I might have died never remembering Dominic.
There were no words to describe the rage I felt towards the people I trusted most, and the only reason I was able to swallow it down was because Sage was waiting for me. She was my priority now, not my rage.
Pushing myself up, I swung my legs out of bed and forced myself up. I needed a shower, some food, and then to find my mate. After that, I would confront those who lied to me.
And then I needed to find out where Dominic and the rogues were, because after the violence of the attack on me, I wasn't sure bringing him home was even an option anymore. There was a possibility I'd have to kill my best friend, and there was no way I could put the responsibility on anyone else.
After all, I was the Alpha.
***
As it happened, I didn't have time for the confrontation I had in mind. Halfway through breakfast, I received an alert that some of the border traps had been tripped out near the farmland, right near where I'd found Sage the previous night. Even though my head was still pounding, there was no way for me to stay behind, so I dressed and made my way out to meet my border guards.
I wasn't surprised to find some of the pack already there, milling around to see what all the fuss was about. What surprised me was that Sage was there, and she appeared to be in an argument with an older pack member, Ernie. He was one of the farmers, so it was expected that his emotions would be running high, but that didn't keep the anger I felt away seeing him so close to Sage, yelling in her face.
"What's going on here?" I barked, making the other wolves jump. The blood drained from Ernie's face.
"Someone messed with the crops." Safe was flushed, and her voice was shaky, but she was trying to appear confident. "That's what tripped the border alarms. There are obvious spaces where the plants have been tampered with, but of course, no one is worried about finding the actual culprit and is more concerned with finding a way to blame me!"
Ernie scowled and started to argue, but Sage shook her head.
"Look," she held up her hands, and a shimmer of green covered them, "I have nothing to gain by causing harm. Every minute you spend blaming me is another minute the person who actually did this has to cover their tracks."
Her eyes flashed with determination, and I watched the crowd shift and whisper. It was a smart move on her part, standing her ground. It would be easy for me to step in and demand they leave her alone, but the pack needed to see that she could handle herself. They would respect her more if she fought her own battles.
"We've seen you messing with the crops," someone else in the crowd protested.
"You've seen me doing this," Sage reached out and laid her hands on the greenery, calling her power forward and lettingit trickle from her fingertips. Immediately, the plants perked up, turning from dull, tired things into healthy, vibrant vegetables and grains. The crowd murmured their approval, and Sage shot me a look.
"If I had done something to these crops, why would I trip the alarms and bring everyone running? We're all wasting our time here."
I laid a hand on my mate's shoulder in solidarity. "Sage is right. Go ahead and check the other fields, and then report back to me. We need to know how bad this is."
