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Chapter 7
Dušan
The Alpha in me demands I call Ander and confirm that I found his missing Omega. Except my wolf snarls with venom at the thought of not claiming her myself. That delicious mouth of hers says so many things she shouldn’t—words that I’ve punished other wolves for. I ought to drag her aside and spank that tight little ass for her comments back in the woods.
That doesn’t stop me from wanting to fuck her so hard the whole settlement hears her cry out in pleasure and knows she’s claimed. That she’s mine. All those male shifters staring at her hungrily in the courtyard riled me up, and now I need to take care of that annoyance. She’s an unmarked female, and her scent is ripe, calling males to her. Except for a true mating to happen, her wolf must accept the male.
I sigh and lean over the balcony outside my office, the wind still today, but I feel something brewing in the energy. Below, the evergreen pine forest stretches across the mountain. The old Râ?nov city sits nearby, now abandoned and decayed. No one lives there aside from the occasional squatters. The streets are filled with undead, so humans left long ago.
Someone clears their throat, and I inhale Lucien’s woodsy wolf scent as he joins me outside. “There’s something different about her.”
I know exactly whom he’s talking about. I saw the look in his eyes when he first met Meira, the hitch of his breath, the acceleration of his heart. She’s taken me like an unsuspecting storm, her scent refusing to leave me, her fiery attitude a challenge I want to accept.
I face my Third and school my thoughts on business. “Ander is expecting her delivery.”
He bobs his head, but I don’t miss the tightness around his eyes. “What if we hold on to her a while longer?” he suggests. “Discover what makes her different. I doubt Ander will appreciate us sending him faulty goods.”
The wind drives his brown hair off his face, and he grips the railing alongside me.
“She’s affected you that much?” I ask.
Steel-gray eyes raise to meet mine. “Not a fucking chance.”
I almost believe him. Almost. He’s always been able to convince others he’s not impacted by the state of the world, as if he’s immovable as a mountain, and that he just pushes on when life got tough. But I know the man who stands before me. He’s a friend who lost so fucking much that the only way to cope is to embrace denial. There’s a reason he wears cowboy boots. They are the only thing he has left of his father, so he isn’t as good at hiding his pain as he thinks.
“Mad and Caspian need to fucking return from the X-Clan.” I growl. “I don’t need a hothead like Mad ruining my trade agreements by doing something stupid.” My shoulders stiffen. The only way I keep everyone in my pack safe is with this exchange. And delivering Meira fixes the problem. So why do doubts sweep through my mind about sending her to Ander?
My wolf snorts at my indecision, and if he could laugh, he’d be howling. Wolves are meant to be mated. It’s how we’re built.
Wearing an irksome smirk, Lucien claps me on the back. “She’s gotten to you too, I see.”
“Fuck.” I shake my head. “I don’t need this.” Pushing a hand through my hair, I stare out over the landscape. “There’s something wrong with her. Her scent isn’t right.” And if I’d met my mate, I’d know. Which is why I think what I’m feeling is little more than lust.
“Part of me wonders if she isn’t a cross between different wolf breeds,” Lucien suggests.
I meet his stare, my gaze narrowing. “You think she’s from an opposing pack?”
He shrugs. “You once told me to never dismiss any possibility.”
Except she lived out in that treehouse. Well, at least, I thought she did. Doesn’t mean she can’t be aligned with another pack. There are many breeds of wolf shifters, many ready to kill and get their hands on my pack and territory. Kill me, and they have the right to fight for the spot of Alpha to my pack.
I grit my teeth and suck in a sharp breath, trying to control myself. She wouldn’t be a spy to let Alpha’s into the pack? But do I really know her?
Footsteps draw my attention behind me, ripping me from my thoughts.
Mihai is in the office, and I nod. Perfect. I’m about to find out exactly what happened with the delivery to X-Clan Wolves.
Lucien and I walk the length of the balcony and step inside to join Mihai.
Mihai double-taps his chest before bowing his head. He’s a Beta and charged with managing my transportation and had been doing a damn good job for years. But Mad quickly blamed him for Meira missing from the delivery.
“Dušan,” he says, as he waits for a command.
“Sit.”
He does so across the desk from me. The rest of the room is empty. This isn’t a place to lounge in—it’s a place to get shit done. Lucien stands by the doorway to the balcony, his shadow stretching out over Mihai. He sits still, his back straight, never cowering.
“You’ve never let me down,” I begin. “So, how did a girl go missing on the last delivery?”
