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Even then, I wouldn’t consider it.
The pack lands were preserved on the backs of our ancestors. The soil fertilized with their sweat and blood.
Shifters have lived on those lands since the beginning of time. The original shifters existed on the land mostly in their wolf forms, but eventually a few of the families formed alliances and developed the land into more formal townships. It allowed shifters to spend more time in their human forms and to live free from the fear of being hunted by full-blooded humans.
The families who developed the first towns became known as founding families. My father’s family line was among them, though that prestige was lost long ago.
Still, the legacy lives on, and so will the pack lands. No offer in the world would be large enough to make me consider giving up what our ancestors built for us. The pack lands protect us from having to spend the entirety of our lives hiding our abilities from humans. I would never put the land in jeopardy and risk us being left with no place else to go.
Langston has to know that. After all, he handed me the contract but noticeably hasn’t bothered with a pen. He knows I won’t sign this. All he’s doing is posturing.
“Why are you treating this like a game?” I turnWar and Warriorsover in my hands as if it’ll give me some kind of final clue. It’s identical to the copy at the Anchorage Lake Pack pack house. While I wait for Langston to answer me, I flip it open near where the photo of our parents was placed in the book in my sister’s library.
Sure enough, the whole section has been added here too.
“Is this your father?” I ask since he hasn’t bothered to respond to my initial question.
The desk chair squeaks as he straightens. “Yes. Carlisle Langston; the patriarch of the Langston family, even in death.” He sounds surprisingly bitter for someone who chose to keep this book with this particular picture front and center on his desk. And while I think he’s enjoying the discomfort it brings me, I know he wasn’t expecting me to be here when he left his meeting. He really does keep this book handy.
“And who is the woman? Shannon French Henry.”
Langston shoves out of his seat so fast the chair wheels backward and slams hard into the wall. I jump slightly at the unexpected burst of anger.
“She’s no one.” His voice drops to an almost demonic tone. “The French Henry women are nothing but self-centered whores.”
“Enough.” My voice is hard. I won’t stand here and let him speak that way of any woman.
Langston storms toward me, but I stand steady. I will not let him intimidate me. He snatches the book out of my grasp and tucks it under his armpit. His eyes are furious, but he manages a deceptively calm tone when he speaks again.
“I want the land, Jarreau. You can either step out of my way, or you can watch everything and everyone you love burn as I take it.” His casual tone is at complete odds with his words, but I hear him loud and clear. Unfortunately for him, I also have no intention of heeding his warning.
Until this moment, though, I don’t think I realized how much danger I was walking into. I can see the reckless abandon in Langston’s eyes telling me he’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. I’m in a building full of his people with no intention of caving to his demands. And I did the stupidest thing possible by not telling anyone where I was going or why. I really thought somehow that I could walk in and be able to mediate this whole conflict.
Langston isn’t looking for mediation. He’s looking to win at any cost.
I reach forward and take the contract off the desk, clutching it close to my chest like some kind of bad shield. “I’ll take this to look over.” I turn for the door, trying to keep my posture straight, my demeanor unconcerned as I attempt to leave the office.
“No.”
“I’m not going to sit here and read it with you hovering over me. I’m pretty sure there are laws against intimidation.” Not that I think he cares about them. I can feel the tension in the room building with each step I take, so I pause at the door and turn to face Langston. Still, I reach behind me and turn the door handle so that it’s unlatched. I’m in a jam, I’m not stupid.
“You have no power here, Tasha Jarreau. You’ll leave when I tell you to leave.” He sneers.
My wolf’s hackles rise in an instant.Get out of here right now.
Shifters have an advantage over humans. Our wolves are conditioned to see small details and anticipate movement before it happens. I easily catch the slight shift in Langston’s posture. As he prepares to pounce at me, I leap backward, shoving the door open hard enough that it slams against the opposite wall.
I don’t let the sound distract me, though. I turn on my heel, taking in my surroundings as I take my first few steps out of the office. Right outside the office door, two men with walkie-talkies gape as I head straight for them. They’re obviously security, but it isn’t my safety they’re worried about. The man on the left moves a little slower as they make an attempt to grab me, so I dodge around him quickly.
I don’t want to shift inside a building with humans crawling all over, but I will if I have to. I would rather live with the embarrassment of being sanctioned as Luna Sovereign than wind up dead.
Frantic footsteps echo around the top floor as chaos breaks out. I can hear Langston yelling, “Don’t just stand there, you idiot!” But I don’t risk looking back to see who he’s talking to. At least one set of footsteps is too close for comfort. The front lobby for this floor and elevator come into view, but I can’t wait for the elevator doors to open.
I whip my head side-to-side, eyes searching frantically until I see the discreet sign marking the stairwell.
“Why are you running, Tasha?” Langston calls after me, but the humor in his voice makes it sound more like a taunt. He finds this entire thing funny; and even though panic wells inside of me, I vow to make him regret every moment of this twisted game he’s playing.
I shove through the door into the stairwell. It’s too much to hope the only people chasing me are coming from the third floor because as I zoom past the second floor landing, a tall, lanky man steps out and grabs at me. His hands nearly find purchase around my waist until white light bursts from my skin in a miniature explosion.
