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So much for trying to be a different alpha. So much for thinking that an inch of kindness could be a strength.
I should have put the pack before the idea that perhaps this was what I needed to do to create a better future. Perhaps the smaller packs were beyond saving.
Kindness had never done me any fucking favors. The one constant casualty was the female in my arms. I should just hold on to the anger.
“Devon?”
I looked down at Kiara, and the pain in my jaw lessened.
“Please take me to bed and make me forget their touch.”
This was one request I had no reason to question. We all walked in silence back to the pack house where I would tend to my mate and we would be moving up meetings with the council. Something needed to be done.
CHAPTER17
Kiara
I stoodat the window and watched as several very expensive-looking cars pulled around and parked. The council. I’d heard of them, but it was only ever through eavesdropping. Cripple Creek hated them.
Just that thought had me liking them, even if there was truth in that they were murderers and twisted assholes—not that I cared. They were painted bad by a pack that had hurt me.
“I will go greet them. Do not leave this room. Sarah will be up and the two of you will do whatever it is females do. Tonight is not for introductions. You understand?”
I nodded and hugged myself tighter. I wasn’t going out anywhere, anyway. I didn’t want to. Not until everyone was dead that had hurt me. That idea seemed fleeting. How many people had hurt me? Anger wanted to burn a permanent pain through me the more the wounds festered.
I watched doors opening and knew that I was safe. I would be safe here. Devon’s arms wrapped around me, and in that moment, I could let my wolf take over. It was easier to feel what she wanted me to. Of course, she wanted to go run and be wild, and I wanted to hide. Still, with Devon’s arms around us, we were okay.
“I wouldn’t know where to go, even if I wanted to leave tonight, Devon.”
He glanced over my shoulder.
“Well, rest assured. They are on the right side of all this. They wouldn’t harm you. They came here because I said I didn’t trust traveling with my mate due to the circumstances.”
That actually did comfort me.
“The council would care about one pack?”
He pulled me onto his lap.
“They would care about a council pack, and they do, contrary to the belief of all the shit happening, care about the smaller packs too. Unfortunately, you can’t fix everything in a decade or three, apparently.”
I let him hold me for a bit longer and then I pulled away.
“Alright, big powerful alpha. Go do what you do. Dazzle them or something. Just—" I paused. Just what? Kill off Cripple Creek? I swallowed and then I spoke anyway, even if I didn’t know what was or wasn’t a good idea.
“Maybe see about relocating the few wolves left of Cripple Creek?”
Devon growled in agreement, and the idea that I could put this all behind me soon enough? There was peace in that. I admired his broad shoulders and over six-foot-tall frame as he stood from where I curled back up. I sighed.
I needed to focus on the positive. Devon in a suit was sexy. The way the jacket hugged every muscle in his arms and the way the collar of his shirt wouldn’t fasten around the muscles of his neck. All positives. He was lick-able. Except tonight he looked fierce. This was the business side of Devon. The one that I’d had a glimpse at the night he almost signed a contract that would have destroyed me. No, it would have destroyed him. He’d nearly signed over himself to a life of sadness and loneliness.
Maybe he knew what was racing through my head. Maybe he didn’t, but when he leaned down to kiss me, it all felt right. This was what I needed. I needed him.
“The council is here for a few issues, but the Cripple Creek Pack is under lock and key and will be dealt with. Regardless, princess, there are few men left there. I believe you are safe, but I need to know, do youfeelsafe?”
He leaned down and claimed my mouth once more before pulling himself away.
“I really need to go. Sarah will be here in a second, and I will be back before the sun rises.”
