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They all watched him as if waiting for instructions.
They’d all said their farewells, and with the vampires gone, there was no need for them to remain in their wolf forms.
Kodiak took the lead and changed into his human form, standing near the doorway, naked, while the others changed.
He glanced at Tamaska. Ordinarily a nonpack member wouldn’t be here, but these were no longer ordinary times. He ached in his chest. This was all so new to her, and the transformations must have been hard to watch.
But something about her had changed. That familiar fear was gone from her eyes and her scent, the fear that stalked her whenever she was around wolves, that was gone, too.
The members of the pack finished transforming and stood, naked in their human forms, looking at Kodiak.
And a great weight settled in his belly.
He knew why.
Any other time this would be a shining moment, a step on a new path full of responsibility, power, and unexplored territory.
Not now. Not tonight. Not with Olcan dead.
It wasn’t how it was meant to go. At times he’d thought perhaps Olcan would fight him to the death if he challenged, but to go from beta to alpha after something so horrible…it added to it all.
This wasn’t how the fight should have ended. Olcan should have been alive to lead the pack, not Kodiak.
He had been the beta. So it was on him to wear the mantel of the new alpha, whether he wanted it or not.
And to guide them.
Tamaska shifted uncomfortably on the floor, her gaze darting around the room. She was obviously trying hard not to look directly at anyone, but that would be difficult for her as they all stood there naked, as if it were totally normal. For them, it was.
“What do you want us to do?” asked Onai, one of the few trusted security agents Kodiak regularly took to events.
Kodiak squared his shoulders and gazed around the room, noting who had survived. It pleased him to see all his team members there. Fern stood close to Shota, who glared hard at Kodiak. Shota might pose a threat, especially after the way he’d opposed Tamaska’s presence. Kodiak needed to remember that.
The young pup, Channing, hadn’t fared well in the fight. On seeing Channing covered in blood and deep cuts, Kodiak was surprised he was even standing.
Ash was there, along with Onai and Skoll. Maybe Kodiak’s extra training sessions with these pack members, designed to mold them into a powerful team for security gigs, had helped them survive.
Right then it didn’t matter. The pack had suffered heavy casualties.
So many missing. He sucked in a breath as he scanned the room for one in particular, the alpha’s mate.
“Kodiak,” prompted Ash. “Olcan marked you as the next alpha.”
“I’m thinking.” He lifted his gaze, and his voice rose. “The vampires. Have they gone?”
The murmur that rolled through the basement was a, yes, and that’s all he could hope for in that moment.
“Olcan,” he said, “is gone.”
He looked over the basement once again. Once he had finished noting everyone in the room, he knew it for sure.
The alpha’s mate, Jeni, was gone.
Kodiak’s stomach roiled.
She’d either left, which he doubted—not without seeing Olcan—or had perished in the fight.
He knew it was the latter.
