Page 92 of The Alpha’s Heir

“Sorry. I’m just stressed.” Her smile despite the chaos was grounding. “It’s not a big deal. I’d just told her we were getting too dependent on this river, and she had… higher priorities.”

My jaw was tight as I nodded, knowing too well what Meg meant. How many times had I tried to question the ruling class, only to be told that no matter how high I advanced, it was still above my paygrade?

That frustration was a rot I kept hidden—buried deep to squash it. But I knew it was a disease that would eat you from the inside out if left to fester long enough. How long had Meg been carrying the same feelings?

We were more alike than I thought.

“Trish and Jax are coming!” someone cried.

Meg dropped the sandbag and held my hand tightly, as if she was trying to force her excitement into me.

I watched in amazement as the ground swelled and spread out, stretching the river with it, when the big dude I’d met earlier in the cabin and Meg’s sister—the one with teal hair—chanted some ancient language in unison.

Dad wouldn’t believe this.

I was mated to a werewolf and I could still hardly understand what I was seeing now. The earth was shifting with their magic.

“They can’t keep this up along the whole river.” Alec panted as she threw a sandbag on the bank beside us, turning her face to the pouring rain to scream, “You can stop the fucking rain at any time!”

“I’m not sure it’s the best idea to curse at the gods,” I said.

Meg patted my shoulder. “Just let her work it out of her system. Otherwise, stuff gets weird.”

My mate turned and marched back to the sand pile, leaving me to catch up. I hated to say that I stole a moment to watch how the rain soaked her pants and shirt, leaving the material clinging to her muscular, womanly curves as she barked out orders to the shifters still filling sandbags.

“Fill the truck instead,” she told them. “Then take it downstream to work on the next choke point in case Trish and Jaxon can’t keep up with their magic.”

Howls rang out at her order and a lightness seemed to motivate the group, urging them to work faster.

I picked up a shovel.

“Not you.” Meg nodded at me. “We need to get to Kera and help out in town while the wolf-witches save Jareth’s Place.”

I looked at the shovel in my hand and toward the truck being quickly filled with sandbags. “I can drive.”

“It’ll be faster if I give you a ride.” It was the first hint of hesitation I’d seen on her face since she’d assumed command of this area.

I abandoned the shovel. “What’s wrong?”

Meg took a cautious step back. “I’m going to change.” She gripped the bottom of her shirt.

Here? Now? With all these people around?

I frowned, confused, until she peeled the shirt over her head. Then I forgot what we were talking about for a second while I stared at her perfect tits.

Fur broke out along her skin as her torso began to elongate. Her bones bent and changed in unnatural ways, and a break in the clouds above let the moonlight shine down through the pouring rain where four brown paws stood in a puddle that only two feet had been in before.

I smiled to myself when Meg’s soulful eyes turned up to me, shining through the wolf’s face.

And somehow—against all logic—I felt the nervousness of the beast.

I lowered to my knee, trying not to frighten her, as I held out my hand and ignored the flash of human self-preservation that told me not to get close to those teeth.

Meg’s wolf whined.

“You’re beautiful,” I whispered, trying to soothe her. “Can I touch you?”

In answer, she nuzzled my hand.