Page 100 of The Alpha’s Heir

“No,” she said, eyes darkening as she looked him over. “It’s just the beginning.”

The goddess began to fade.

“Wait!” I cried. “Is this it? We can still have the wedding. The full moon isn’t for another two days.”

“The wedding doesn’t matter.” Morrigan huffed. “It’s too late anyway.”

“Why do all this if it doesn’t even matter? What games are you playing?” I snapped my teeth, feeling my wolf rise to the surface.

“Don’t put this on me.” Morrigan smiled, half translucent. “You failed. I told you to stay away. Instead, you went and claimed him. Now listen when I give you one last piece of advice. Go home, wolf. You don’t belong here anymore.”

The goddess vanished, leaving Roman and me alone in the hall. But something had changed in the last few minutes.

Roman could barely look my way. “Is it true? Did she warn you this would happen?”

“Well yes, but not really…” My words trailed off when I saw his expression. “She set me up to fail.”

“I told all of you not to trust them. They speak in riddles and play by their own rules. We’re nothing to them, but the council—and your pack—all seem to think you’re important enough to bargain with the gods. That they actually listen when you call.” Roman marched past me, leaving nothing but coldness behind, and whatever emotions I could’ve sensed earlier were somehow blocked.

“Where are you going now?” I ran after him.

He didn’t bother to wait. “I have a job to do.”

35

Roman

“Are you coming back?” Meg asked as I left her on the porch of Councilwoman Troy’s house.

Those four words threatened to break me. It wasn’t a question I’d had to answer as an adult to another living soul that cared whether I made it.

How could you answer something like that, knowing the truth of what I was about to face? Even in times of peace, my job was dangerous.

I didn’t know what we were up against now.

I just knew I had to get back out there.

The words didn’t want to form, but I found them anyway. “I’ll do my best.”

Then her arms were around me, and the raging dam I barely held back cracked another fraction. “This is the worst love story ever.”

“You deserve better.” Better than I could give.

I forced myself to look into her eyes, to not crumble when I gave her a chaste kiss, ignoring the looks from the security guards stationed outside the councilwoman’s house as I turned away.

Let them talk.

If what the colonel said was true, our entire way of life was about to change. A social media scandal was the least of my worries.

And I had so many worries right now.

Back at base, I met up with my unit and the modified HMMWV. The Humvee was mounted with a .50 caliber machine gun that we’d use to patrol the streets. I exhaled a sigh of relief when I saw Staff Sergeant Marcus standing there.

I pulled him to the side. “Where are they?”

Marcus glanced over his shoulder. “We’ve got friends in the southside district. They’re hanging out there for now until this blows over or I come back.”

I knew the place. It was where Katrina lived. Where I’d grown up. The lower district was packed in tight, but they were good people who’d look out for each other. People who understood the severity of a collapse of this size. Fragile lives made shorter by the threat of everyday living. Nothing like being poor to realize your mortality.