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Roxanne is waiting for me on the lawn, wearing her typical demure uniform of khaki pants and a white button-down shirt with flat ballet shoes. She wore some version of that outfit for the entire year we lived together, lending to the motherly image I had of her in my mind.
Suddenly, I realize it never occurred to me to ask if she had a mate. I’d asked once, back in LA, if she had a family. She’d deflected and said I was her only family.
“You ready for this, Layla?” She asks as I approach.
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” I shrug. “Hey, I realized I don’t know. Do you have a mate?”
Her head shakes slowly, swinging her long braids. “No, I was not born with a fated.” Her eyes are dark and luminous in the moonlight, and like a lightning bolt, the truth strikes me in my gut.
“My uncle,” I breathe. “You love him.”
She gives me a sad smile. “I will say I had hoped that perhaps, once we found you and made sure the pack was taken care of, that he might offer me a place beside him. We worked together as a team for so long, and so few un-fated’s are born in this pack. It’s almost as if we were fated, in a way.”
“And he never said anything to you?” Emotion clenches my throat; it’s just like a movie, where the boss is so busy with running the company he doesn’t realize his VP is in love with him and happens to be his perfect match.
“Not once,” she answers with a shrug. “I thought we’d have time to talk after, but no one has seen or heard from him since you manifested. It’s almost as if he couldn’t wait to leave everything, and everyone, behind.”
“But won’t he go mad? I thought that’s what you said. Once people have manifested they can’t go live among humans anymore.”
“Oh, I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard for him to find a place with another pack. He has an excellent pedigree,” she winks conspiratorially. “He probably already had a place set up, maybe even a mate waiting for him.”
“I-” Just as I start speaking, her cellphone alarm goes off.
“Looks like it’s time, Layla. Just let your wolf take over. If you want to use your conscious mind, focus on finding your alpha command voice. If you can issue an alpha command, you can stop her from attacking you. No one will question your legitimacy any longer.”
“And you can’t just stop her with your beta voice?” I ask, hopeful even though I know the answer.
“No, there are some rules as ancient as the mountains. The pact the four families made only stands so long as a Harridan is the strongest heir. You have the bloodline, but if your wolf cannot command hers, you are not strong enough to make that claim. She is within her rights to challenge you to prove it, and I do not have the authority to stop it, so long as she challenges you alone.”
“Very well. Then let’s get this show on the road and see what I’ve got.”
Roxanne reaches out and pulls my shocked body to her in a tight hug. I’m resistant at first, but then I relax and allow my arms to circle her waist, resting my cheek on her shoulder.
“I’m very proud of you, you know Layla. Your mother would be, too. You’re going to make an excellent alpha. You just need to believe it.”
Tears prick at my eyes and I lean into her heavily, squeezing tighter. While she’d been sort of maternal in LA, we’d been more like siblings. I longed for her approval, but she didn’t act like a mother.
This felt different.
“Thank you,” I whisper, then pull back. “But don’t think that’s going to make me go easy on you. My wolf is her own animal. I found that out last night.”
Roxanne grins, her smile pearly in the moonlight. “I would expect nothing less from a Lilliana Harridan.”
“Yeah, that’s never going to feel like my name.” I turn my back to her and start pulling my sweater over my head, before I catch sight of the guys, staring. “Hey, turn around, jerks!”
They immediately whip around to face the building, and I take several steps away from Roxanne before I strip off my clothes and call on the shift.
She doesn’t make a noise, or if she does, I’m too caught up in my shift to hear it. Before my change is even complete, I feel the threat, like electricity in the air. Her beta power presses on the atmosphere around me, invading my space, making the air close. I snarl, pushing back to create a bubble of space for myself to breathe. It’s like her aura is trying to dominate mine, and I’m determined to keep her from winning before we even touch teeth to fur.
Roxanne’s wolf is mostly black except for the silver tip of her tail and a matching silvery mask. She glares at me, her dark eyes reflecting silver in the moonlight, snarls ripping from her chest with no hint of restraint.
My wolf snarls back, jaw snapping, and I feel as though my aura-power-dominance has met hers in the middle now. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when our bodies collide.
Ever confident, my wolf bows aggressively, shuffling forward across the turf to push into Roxanne’s space.
And just as we race forward to meet in the middle, I feel it; her beta voice, pressing at my self-control, trying to command me.
My wolf stumbles, taking a hit and allowing Roxanne to get a mouthful of fur before we recover. Shock rippled through me at first, but now I’m fighting back. Using all of my mental strength, I press back against the onslaught of her command, and my wolf rallies for another attack.
