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“Idon’t want power,” I tell him. “I’m happy with what I’ve got.”
All I’ve ever wanted was my happily-ever-after with Ryker. So long as the Wicked Wolf was standing in my way, I thought I couldn't have that. I know better—a fact I’ll happily admit to Ryker that I was wrong when I get back home—and now all I have to do is survive Walker’s cruel games so that I can grab Trish, Duke, and Aleks and get the hell out of here.
If only it was that easy.
“What if you could have more?” Walker asks. “Think about it. I’ve always known my line was strong, and I sired a female alpha. Let me make this perfectly clear: I want you to stay in the district. Can you imagine the sort of pups you could bear for me? With the right mate, you’ll be the second coming of the Luna, the mother of a new, better race of shifters. A wolf queen with a legion of alphas to do your bidding.”
Okay. This went off the rails real fast. What is he talking about?
“The right mate? I already have the right mate,” I remind him. “My fated mate.”
Oh. Walker doesn’t like that answer, does he?
He recovers quickly, though, pulling that Hollywood-fake grin back to his face. “I said the right mate. Everyone knows the Wolfson line is weak. Look how easy it was for a beta wolf to take out the Alpha. The Mountainside Pack is a generation away from being nothing. I won’t allow my daughter sully her blood with a Wolfson.”
“Too late,” I shoot back, probably more gleeful than I should considering he’s sounding pretty maniacal right now. “Shane didn’t stop the Luna Ceremony.” As a reminder, I tug on my shirt, showing off Ryker’s mark. “I claimed Ryker and he claimed me. You can’t change that.”
“I can’t,” Walker agrees, “but we both know that Elizabeth can.”
“Only if me or Ryker is okay with it.”
“And you will be. Take it from an Alpha that knows. Fate doesn’t always work out. Reject Wolfson, and you can have any other male you choose for your children. You don’t even need to bond with them to have their pups. I’d prefer it, too. The more males you take, the wider the genetic pool, the stronger our pack will be.”
Okay. Did I think he was crazy before?
Because this?
This is fucking nuts!
Put aside how I would never, ever willingly give Ryker up. Why would this prick think that I’d want any of what he’s trying to offer me? I get itchy just knowing that my four wolf guards have pledged their life and loyalty to me. A… what was that? Legion of alphas?
Oh, hell no.
“Thanks, but I’m gonna have to pass on that. I think I’ll stick with Ryker.”
A muscle jerks in his cheek.
My wolf arrows her ears back, muzzle curling to show a hint of fang. She senses the way the air in the cabin suddenly grows thick with tension and immediately reacts.
That’s okay, girl. My fingers flex, my body getting ready to shift. So do I.
As if he could care less about the threat I represent, Walker shrugs. “It might not be your choice. You would do well to remember that.”
I go cold before asking in a careful voice, “What do you mean by that?”
“Just that, right about now, my Beta is giving Wolfson the same offer I gave you. Only, in his case, it’s not about a new mate. It’s about keeping his pack from being decimated by mine.”
What?
How?
It’s bad enough that he just put that out there. He’s not even hiding what lengths he’ll go to to get me to agree to his insanity. Threatening the entire Mountainside Pack to get what he wants? I can’t believe it.
But how is Ryker being taunted with the same threat?
I thought Christian was his Beta. But that can’t be right. I just saw Christian a couple of hours ago, lurking outside of my window in between two other wolves I didn’t know. Unless Walker could get his paws on some kind of supersonic jet, there’s no way that Christian was able to trade the Wolf District for Accalia to approach Ryker with my bio-dad’s latest madness.
“I have to say, Christian might seem grim, but he can be very persuasive when I order him to be. I’m sure he’ll make it so that Wolfson can’t refuse.”
