AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And his resolve to punish those responsible.
“Show yourself,” he bellowed, eyes affixed to the towering structure before him. “Lukka!”
The growing crowd gathered, flooding the narrow streets, but he seemed unaffected, his head held high. Despite his nakedness, he radiated confidence that took her breath away. Unlike any man she’d ever met, he embodied the term Alpha exactly as Micha had described it.
A true leader.
Her heart throbbed as she navigated the crowd, rushing toward him. She was barely paces away when he whirled in her direction. Their eyes met, and Loren could feel the relief that washed over him—but the sight of the two men accompanying him made her stop short.
They came from the same direction he had, but were in human form, their steps slow and cautious. They weren’t here to hurt Bill, it seemed. But for what purpose? Her nostrils flared as the wind blew their scents in her direction. One she recognized instantly—the man who intruded onto Bill’s property uninvited. But the other?
She didn’t know him. Yet… The way he moved sparked an overwhelming sense of déjà vu that rooted her to the spot. A sudden recognition came to mind. Was he Loreck Eislander?
Any emotion she might have felt at the prospect was quickly replaced by loathing, only it wasn’t her own.
“You dare to trespass onto our property?” Lukka’s voice was a gnarled hiss as he descended the steps of the main house. He still wore the same clothing from earlier, his eyes an icy blue. Streaming behind him were at least four men, their postures tense—but Kyle, predictably, wasn’t among them.
“This is treason,” the Alpha went on. “This is—”
“I tried to do this nobly by the rules,” Bill said over him in a rich baritone that put the leader’s to shame. “That’s what your father would have wanted, or so I used to believe.” He raised his voice to carry through the assembled crowd. Loren swallowed hard at the sight of him, boldly facing the obstacle in his path. But she could still sense his pain.
His ever-lingering doubts.
“I admired Lukas more than anyone,” he confessed. “I always believed him to be just and fair—but, as it turns out, you two were more alike than I could ever imagine. You always resented me because of the threat I presented to you, but the truth is, Lukas had little faith in your ability to lead before he ever chose me as his successor.”
Lukka visibly flinched, and a murmur went through the crowd, growing in intensity. Loren couldn’t sense which side the general sentiment was on. Just an increasing feeling of alarm.
And fear—especially as the two Eislanders drew near. Several men broke off from the crowd to stand menacingly in their path. None came to blows.
Yet.
“Like you, Lukas was willing to sacrifice anyone who might stand in his way for power,” Bill continued, and Loren swiveled her head back to him. “Even an innocent. Your father decided to sabotage the heir of a rival leader, but you?”
He glowered at Lukka, his voice thick with disgust.
“You allow your own righthand man to attack a witness, merely to deter me.”
Loren shivered at the rage she could hear in his voice as well as feel. It blew her mind that he had so easily discerned the truth merely from her haphazard thoughts.
Though, she could feel a mixture of emotions from him in return that her brain rushed to unravel. Anger, yes, but something else, mingled beneath. Determination?
“No more,” Bill declared out loud, drawing her attention back to the present. “We fight here, and we fight now. I challenge you for the position of Alpha.”
A shock went through every witness, rippling deeper than Loren figured was apparent to the naked eye. This was more than a simple statement.
It was a direct challenge to the way of life of every person living in this territory.
While she couldn’t decipher much from the deafening din of voices, with every growing murmur, Lukka seemed to shrink. “Fine,” he said. “You want to be released? I release you. You are no longer a rogue tied to the territory, free to resume your exile—”
“No.” Bill shook his head, seeming more regal than his disgraced status would imply. Bathed in the glow of the full moon, only one word came to Loren’s mind, worthy of describing him.
Lycan.
“My exile is over,” he bellowed. “I am here to challenge you for the position of Alpha. Should I win, you step down.”
Lukka’s voice was a harsh shadow in comparison. “And if you lose?”
Bill met his gaze without flinching, forcing the other man to voice the outcome for him.
