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Maybe if I tire him out enough, my wolf will stop chasing those same old demons. I rejected the little North Summit wolf—and she accepted. There’s no going back now.
My wolf manages to get the last word in just as I’m shifting.We’ll see about that.
* * *
I manage to loop nearly the entirety of our main hunting grounds without catching a thing. Panting, I pull up to a stop and toss myself down on the ground in annoyance. I need to catch my breath, but more than that I need to get ahold of myself and check in with Luca. I know he can handle a couple of rogues no problem, but it’s my job to check in anyway.
Update?I ask over link, my voice surlier than intended.
There’s a pause before he answers.They’re gone. They saw us coming and started to get into position like they wanted to fight, but then a breeze blew through and they took off right in the direction we wanted.
They didn’t fight?Why the hell would rogues breach pack land just to turn and tuck tail.
It was strange, Alpha. One of our men swore the breeze carried in a certain smell, but he couldn’t explain it and we haven’t been able to pick the scent up since.
I cut the link with no warning. I’m not in the business of trying to read the minds of rogues. If they were scared of a stiff breeze, they wouldn’t have survived a fight with my pack anyway. Good riddance.
Shifting into human form, I shove upright and stalk across the dark, open section of field. There’s no use feeling sorry for myself for a bad hunt, I would much rather fuel the flames of anger.
It’s been years, and still I find myself haunted by the tiny waif the fates decided to punish me with. There’s no ounce of reason behind it. She accepted my rejection free and clear, yet even now, my wolf yearns for her. It sickens me.
I’ve tried speaking with the Luna Sovereign, but she dodges my questions with a precision I’ve never seen anywhere else. I might be able to make any wolf beg for mercy, but the Luna Sovereign is untouchable. Hell, I’ve never even been deemed worthy of seeing her in the flesh, and I’m Alpha to the most powerful pack in North America.
You’re still an Alpha with no Luna.
“Forget this,” I mutter aloud, shutting my wolf out. After this much time together, I’ve learned the art of tuning the asshole out when I need to. It isn’t often, but these days it feels like a trick I’ve mastered solely for the sake of forgetting the little brunette that is. Not. Mine. Despite what my wolf would still like to believe.
I start through the forest back in the direction of the main road. I make it about midway before a wolf breaks through the trees. Luca shifts quickly and falls into step beside me.
“It’s not like you to drop out mid-conversation,” he says casually.
“There’s a lot on my mind.” It’s a bullshit answer, and I’m sure he knows it. As my Beta, it’s his job to know it. Still, there are some things we don’t talk about, and my failed mating is one of them. No one knows about the girl I rejected, and I plan to keep it that way.
An Alpha with no Luna is a liability. Sooner rather than later, I need to find someone worthy of standing beside me and hope like hell they’ll choose me over their true mate.
The very idea threatens to bring my wolf roaring back to the forefront.
“Anything I can take off your plate?” he asks. Anyone else would run at the sight of my surly mood, but not Luca. I very nearly ask for something that could bury me, ask him to lookherup, but I still have some semblance of control over my wolf.
Careful,I warn my wolf,or I’ll mark the next semi-eligible wolf that comes along.
He bristles as expected. I might have had no interest in our mate, but instinct drives the wolf. All the stories of mate bonds being broken were wrong. Even after making that choice, it seems my wolf will never understand what I knew with one look. Little Tess Jarreau will never be the Luna of the Anchorage Lake pack.
Chapter Six
Tess
Tess!
My sister’s voice shouts over our wolf link, startling me as I sprint toward her. Her voice makes me hesitate for one crucial second, sending me tumbling over my own paws. I do half a somersault, turning over my left shoulder with a yelp.
Tess? she calls out for me again, more desperate the second time.
Tasha, are you okay?I push the pain out of my mind, worried only for my sister whose desperation I haven’t heard since our parents’ accident.I’m on my way to you.
No! Go to the office, the house isn’t safe.I hear it in her voice, the sound of her exertion. She’s not as fast as I am, so even if she’s near the office already, I know I can catch up.
I push to my paws and turn in the direction of the office, my legs moving infinitely faster as I rush toward my sister. I don’t bother asking what’s going on. If we’re headed for the office, I already know it’s bad. The office is the safest building on pack land, the place the pack knows to protect at all costs. And Tasha never just comes there for a visit.
