AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s been two months since I last saw her—when she was boldly strolling into Ryker’s Alpha cabin, just another set-up courtesy of Shane Loup—but apart from her looking a lot thinner and more tired than I’d ever noticed, she’s exactly the same. From the big, bouncy, light brown curls to her dark hazel eyes and the sundresses that could’ve come out of Omega Gem’s old closet, I’m looking at Trish Danvers.
And she’s way, way too close to my mate.
I shove the door, just managing to temper my strength in time so that I don’t shatter the glass; Charlie would have my neck if I did. Then, my wolf pushing me to cross the space between me and my challenger, I burst out onto the sidewalk.
Ryker’s head jerks toward me, but his closed-off expression gives nothing away.
That’s fine. He’s not the one I have questions for.
“You!”
Her senses aren’t as heightened as Ryker’s. That, or her sense of self-preservation just sucks. She doesn’t know that I’m coming at her until I’m already close enough to strike her down.
A flash of fear crosses her pretty face when she finally does realize, but she stands firm. I’d respect that if it wasn’t so obvious that she’s expecting Ryker to protect her from me.
“What are you doing here?” No.Wait. “How did you get past the vamps that guard the perimeter?”
“I was just explaining that to the Alpha,” Trish says. “When I crossed into this city, I told them that Ryker was really my mate and that I can prove it.”
Only a lifetime of tamping down my wolf, of playing a part, of acting like Omega Gem keeps me from snarling and going for her throat. Plus, Ryker’s shifted just enough that his body is between mine and hers. He’s expecting me to go wolf on her and, yeah, he’ll protect the weaker wolf if he has to.
It’s what an alpha does.
Remembering that, I keep my distance. I figure six feet is good enough, and if I lose control and lunge, Ryker should still have enough time to intercept me before I can reach her. He’s quick enough.
I swallow, keeping my voice calm and steady as I ask, “And they believed it?”
“Luna, no. But it was worth a shot.”
That, at least, makes sense. Of course the vamps in charge didn’t buy her story. How could they? When Ryker met with Roman Zakharov to make sure it wouldn’t start any kind of issues between his people and ours if he followed me around Muncie, he told the head vamp thatIwas his fated mate. He had his own proof—at the very least, the written agreement between Mountainside and Lakeview when the two packs arranged for me to go to Accalia to mate him after his Alpha Ceremony—so he couldn’t be Trish’s.
Honestly, I’m less concerned with how she got into Muncie than how she knew where me and Ryker were. As the only shifters allowed in the Fang City, the Cadre would know, but she would need to know to search Muncie first.
“Okay. Follow-up question. How did you even know to find us here?”
Trish bites the corner of her mouth. Her scent gives her away, as does her obvious nerves. Even before she says a word, I know it’ll be a lie.
I guess I just wasn’t expecting it to be such a whopper, though.
“I… I tracked you.”
Come on, Trish. You can do better than that.
Seriously. She wants me to believe that, as both a delta and a banished wolf, she managed to cross into Muncie, not get caught by the patrol until she made her way to Cadre headquarters, and that she was then able to pick up mine and Ryker’s scent all the way downtown when Roman’s headquarters is at the northern part of the Fang City?
“You’re lying,” I say flatly.
Trish turns to Ryker. “Alpha—”
“Lie again and this discussion is over.”
He doesn’t need the added gravel and grit to his voice for the alpha command to take hold. Trish tucks her bouncy curls behind her ears, dropping her gaze so that she’s staring at the sidewalk instead of at us.
“Fine,” she snaps out. “It was the vampire, all right? He told me where to go if I wanted to try and convince the Alpha to let me go back home again.”
The stink of her deception fades a little. Okay. A vampire’s involved.
“Which one? Roman?”
