Page 39 of Alpha’s Wife

“They’ve been getting worse,” he says, his voice low. “The younger ones are talking about everything they’re going to get when you take the island. The older ones are worried about what they might lose in the process. They love this settlement; they’ve worked hard building it.”

“And which half are you in?” I ask.

He takes his time. “I think we’ve got more to lose now than we ever have. A home on the coast. This place. Forty families that trust you with their kids.” He shrugs. “I wouldn’t want to watch a man gamble all of it reaching for something he doesn’t really need.”

He’s quiet for a second, then says the part he really walked up here to say. “And there’s some starting to wonder about you, Ronan. Whether there’s still a version of this where you stop before they’re asked to fight. Whether anyone could talk you down now, if it came to it.” He keeps his eyes on the path ahead. “I tell them, of course, there is, because you’ll always do what’s right for your pack, and I’d like to be right about that.”

“Noted,” I say, not looking at him.

He can tell I’m done with it and lets it go, because he’s smart and loyal, and he’ll follow me either way. But he’s said it now, and we both know it landed.

Ryder’s already up in the big cabin we use for planning, bent over a map of the island. He came over a couple of nights ago and is spending more time here. I can tell he likes it even if he won’t admit it. He doesn’t look up when I come in.

“Did Garrick tell you about our witch problem?” he asks, and my mind goes straight to Selene. He looks up, then smirks. “Not your witch, who I hear has you handled, never mind the other way around. The witch here, on the ward boundary, two nights in a row. I’d say she knows it’s there.”

“And what’s been done about it?” I ask, ignoring his Selene barb.

He sighs. “Tightened the wards, of course. I ran a patrol late last night, and it was clear. I’ll do the same tonight. I assume you’re not staying.”

He’s eyeing me as he says it, and I can tell he senses the bond magic. “I need to get back to her; the bond is working,” I admit. “Soon, it won’t matter about a stray witch on the boundary. We’ll be ready to make our presence felt.”

Ryder sighs, and I know what’s coming. I grit my teeth because, as much as I love my brother and know his wolf is my closest equal, I hate being told what to do, even by him.

“You said you were going to think about what they said,” he says. “The email, the offer of peace. We could negotiate for this land; these people are happy here, and this settlement is thriving. We could get a piece of what we wanted, bloodshed-free. Wouldn’t that be a victory?”

“Are you joking?” I half laugh, incredulous. “You want to barter over a tiny cove as the price for being ignored for thirty years and tossed aside?”

“I’d take a thriving cove and nobody dying over a whole island soaked in our own people’s blood,” he snarls.

It’s a good argument. That’s the trouble with Ryder. His arguments are always good.

“They’d never accept us,” I say. “Not really.”

“You don’t know that,” he replies, softer.

“I won’t spend my whole life feeling grateful for scraps,” I reply.

Ryder goes quiet for a moment, and I hope he’s going to drop it, but he gets the last word.

“The bond magic is in you now. I can feel it from across the room, and I can feel the strength. So just be sure it’s you making this call with a clear head”—He picks up his jacket and heads for the door—”and not the boy who swore he’d make them all pay for it one day, because this isn’t just about what we want anymore.”

Then he’s gone, and I’m left alone with the map, looking at the outline of an island that should have been ours but never was, wondering if I’m even on the right track. And I hate that, because I have never wondered if I’m right; I have always been clear in my own head about what I wanted to do. Damn Ryder and his stupid conscience and whatever goodness Selene seems to wrap me up in, even when she’s giving me all this power.

I take the last boat back, leaving Ryder there for another night to run his patrol and hold the line. She’s waiting up when I get home, the same book in her lap that I know she’s not really reading, and a cup of tea next to her that has gone cold. She looks up when I come in, and the look on her face when she sees me holds no fear; it hasn’t for a while now, and that does something to me I don’t know how to stop.

I get my hands on her and finally stop thinking. I forget about the island, Ryder, and all my responsibilities and dreams of revenge. For a few hours, there’s nothing left in the world but her, and the anger I’ve carried my whole life fades away. She’s the only thing that’s ever made it feel less heavy.

I tell myself that my need for her isn’t a weakness. I tell myself that maybe I can have all of it at the same time—her, the war, my revenge, the island, and a happy pack. I can take everything I’m owed.

And I almost believe it.

Chapter 19 - Selene

Ronan is up and gone before I’m even awake properly, and I lie in the warmth he’s left in the bed, trying not to notice how easy this could become. Waiting up for him and waking up in his bed.

Wanting him gone and wanting him back in the same breath.

Last night I fell asleep with my head on his chest, counting the beats of his heart, almost afraid to move, afraid of the fact that I didn’t want to. A month ago, I tried to run, and now I don’t want to. Now I want to wake up in his arms, go help out at the clinic, stop off at the bakery on the way home, and laugh with friends.