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“Because I just realized something.”
Uh-oh. “What?”
“Hold up. Let me ask you another question first.” At my nod, he says, “How often did the Lakeview Pack host other Alphas?”
The answer to that is simple enough.
Never.
My dad was super careful to guard my secret. He couldn’t risk someone figuring out that I was different, or for someone to recognize that I looked too much like Jack Walker. I was allowed to attend the annual Alpha’s gathering that took place every summer, but that was the only exception. I was Paul Booker’s daughter, even if our names didn’t match, and he rarely let me out around the other Alphas while I was there.
Which was perfectly fine with me since I got to spend the time with the Alphas’ families—including Ryker Wolfson.
“He didn’t.”
“That’s what I thought. And there’s our problem. When an Alpha is invited to another’s territory, there’s… pomp. Circumstance. Ridiculous traditional shit. For those forty-eight hours, I’m actually a guest, and Walker’s made it clear he intends to treat me that way. He’s hosting a big dinner tomorrow night before my time’s up, and some kind of entertainment.” Ryker rolls his eyes. “It’s a way of showing me his power so that I don’t try to push my luck and stay past the forty-eight-hour deadline.”
“You keep saying forty-eight hours,” I point out. “I don’t get it. He made me promise I would stay for twenty-five days, but you only get to be here for two?”
“It’s the same thing I told you before, sweetheart. You’re an alpha, and you’re my mate, but you’re not an Alpha of a pack.”
That’s true. I’m an alpha wolf, and part of the Alpha couple of the Mountainside Pack, but I don’t lead my own. Not that I want to, but when he talks about pomp and circumstance and things like dinner and a show of might… Walker did do all of that for me.
I had the dinner with him and Elizabeth. The challenge where I was forced to watch Aleks destroy one of Walker’s packmates. My own cabin.
And maybe he’s treating me like an “honored guest” because he’s determined to show his pack that I’m his long-lost daughter. Could be. Could be that he’s also eager to put on a show for the rest of the Western Pack, parading me around as a rare female alpha.
Or maybe it’s something else…
I huff out a breath. “Do I at least get to go to this dinner and a show?”
Ryker’s eyes flash. “You’re my mate, Gemma. I’m not going anywhere without you. Never again. Even if he didn’t request your presence”—he gives an angry snort when he says that—“he couldn’t have stopped me.”
Good.
For once, I’ll let our outdated lore and tradition work in my freaking favor. If that asshole thinks my only worth is in having pups and being pretty, I’ll let him think that.
I survived one dinner with him.
With Ryker with me, I can totally survive another.
As for the show of might…
I’m absolutely positive I know what Walker’s going to do tomorrow at the dinner. He wants to put on a show in “honor” of Ryker’s visit? It’ll be another chance for him to trot Aleks out, and I’ll be damned if I’m not there to make sure it doesn’t end up a challenge between the two males who mean the most to me.
Ryker must guess the same thing. Why else would he ask if Aleks is the only vamp in Western Pack territory? If it’s a wolf versus vamp showdown, Aleks would have to be one of the fighters.
I just hate to find out who the other one is.
* * *
I wishI could say we came up with a brilliant plan to rescue Aleks, save Trish, and get Duke out of his cage before tomorrow night’s dinner. Instead, with the full moon riding us and our separation longer than either one of us expected, we don’t leave the cabin.
The cabin? Heh. We barely leave the bed.
Together, we go through almost all of the food in Elizabeth’s kitchen. Such vigorous sex really amps up our already considerate appetites; with Ryker next to me, my hunger for him turns to hunger for food. With a teasing jab to my hip bone, he points out that I lost more weight than I probably could’ve afforded to. With shifter metabolisms what they are, I need a shit ton of calories just to stay my size. The few meals I skipped did more harm than good, and he makes sure I’m stuffed—in more ways than one.
In between mating and snacking, we cuddle together in bed. Ryker demands to know everything that’s happened since I sent Jace back to Accalia. I tell him nearly everything, tamping down my wolf when she realizes what I’m keeping back.
