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He says nothing but strolls over to the door nearby me, leaning against the door frame with a shit-eating grin spread across his face. “That’s a real shame.”
“Mmm, yeah, I know.” I don’t quite get what he means by that, but it’s easier to just nod and go along with it. “Maybe I will see you some other time.”
“Oh, you’re definitely going to see me again.” He shoots me a wink. “You’re my mate.”
I cannotthink about that at the moment. I have way too much to worry about, to be thinking about the most dangerous man in Chicago and the possibility that he’s my mate. My pack doesn’t even like to stay in one place for an extended period of time. We’re nomadic by nature, so this disaster might send me too far from Mason to ever think of him again.
We may well only have this one night, and that’s it.
I grab my clothing as quickly as I can and dress, trying to ignore the intensity of Mason’s gaze on my body. Even without touching me, he manages to send a flurry of electricity burning through my veins. I can feel how badly he wants me naked, and that makes me want the same… but I can’t get caught up again. Not when I have my pack struggling. Daniella is going to murder me when she finds out what I’ve done… if I ever work up the courage to tell her what happened here. I don’t know if I will.
Me and Mason share a super awkward goodbye before I head out of the house and make my way towards the woods with my heart pounding in my chest. I’m back to reality with a painful thump and I hate it. I hate what’s happening to us.
What’s next?I wonder as I run.For us… if most of the men are slaughtered then…
Well, who the hell is going to be in charge now? I can’t pinpoint who will be picked, and that is very unnerving. The future of our pack is really up in the air here.
“Oh thank God, there you are.” Daniella comes running to me the moment she catches sight of me. “I won’t even ask what happened last night. It’s written all over your face.”
I can almost feel the color drain from my body. “What… what do you mean?”
She gives me a pointed look. “We don’t need to talk about it right now, but wearegoing to have to discuss it later. We have more important things to do today.”
Guilt flows through me as I see that all the bodies have now been moved and buried. The clean up has been done while I was having a night that I definitely shouldn’t have had. I should have been here, helping out my people. I messed up, and now I need to find a way to make up for that. I fiddle with my necklace anxiously, wondering how I can make up for my fuck up. I don’t want to totally blame Mason for this, but a lot of it is his fault. He went out of his way to seduce me, so I didn’t ask all the awkward questions. And I fell for it.
“We need to have a meeting now,” Daniella continues, completely unaware of the inner turmoil I’m experiencing. “About our new alpha now. With Brian gone, we need someone to lead us in this particularly difficult time.”
“I don’t envy whoever’s going to be put in that position.”
Daniella gives me a bit of a funny look, one I can’t read, but I don’t get a chance to ask her to explain because we’re here now, with the remaining members of our pack. The few wolves we have left. Glancing around at them only makes me feel a million times worse. Look at us. Only a few of us are left now, and how did I react to that? By sleeping with the enemy.
Fuck, it doesn’t matter if Mason is my mate or not, that canneverhappen again.
“Are we all here?” Louise calls out, taking control of the meeting as one of the only elders that we now have left. Will she be the one to take the helm? “Good, I’m glad. Now it’s with sorrow that we must honor our fallen comrades today. Great wolves who have fought and lived alongside us for many years, and who didn’t deserve to end up as they have done.” Tears start to become obvious as some of us have lost our closest friends. It truly is heartbreaking. “No one ever deserves to die, but we knew that coming to Chicago was a risk. It’s always a worry setting up camp near a dangerous city like this one.”
Agreeable sounds float up around Louise, who is clearly struggling to hold it together as well. I can’t join in with any of the sorrow, though. I don’t feel like I deserve to. An ice cold numbness trickles down my spine and completely takes control of me.
“But losing people doesn’t mean we stop. It doesn’t mean our pack comes to an end,” Louise continues. “We can’t let Chicago be the death of us. We have to find the strength.”
Daniella squeezes my hand softly, letting me know she’s still here for me, no matter what I’ve done. She still cares for me and loves me. I don’t know if I deserve that, but I take it gratefully nonetheless. I appreciate her so much.
“We have to choose someone now to take the place of the alpha, and to help us through this.” I look up to Louise, finding a surprising amount of power in her words. If she’s the one to take over, then I will have a lot more respect for her than I ever did for Brian. “We need to do this democratically because this is how things work in our pack. I do not know how other packs work, and like you all, I’m not interested. This is how we work. So, the first thing we need to do is start with the nominations.”
Nominations…this is a process I have only been involved in once before, but I was much younger at the time. I didn’t vote for Brian, but he won anyway. I simply appreciated being given a voice. It’s nice to know that we’re all cared for and listened to.
I look around at everyone in turn to see them all doing the same thing. I’m just waiting for the first person to nominate Louise so we can get this over and done with. Once she’s the alpha, we can then work on what our next move will be. Whether that involves moving on, as we normally do, or not. At this moment, I don’t know what I would prefer.
“Clara!” Daniella suddenly announces beside me, knocking me off kilter. What the hell is she playing at? Why is she nominating me? That makes absolutely no sense at all. I give her a glare, but that doesn’t stop her from talking. “She has the necklace, the secret heirloom. That was passed down to her for a reason, and I personally think that this is the reason right here. Who else would be better for this job than her?”
I hiss at her to be quiet as my cheeks flame with heat, but Daniella completely ignores me. This isn’t the sort of responsibility I want. Surely my best friend knows me better than this, but she’s continuing on regardless anyway. I cannotbelieve she’s doing this to me. Is this how she wants to punish me for what I’ve done? I thought she’d forgiven me and that we were on the same side. Clearly not…
But Daniella isn’t the only one. My name keeps coming up over and over again, with the necklace being cited as the reason for this. Iknowthis secret heirloom is special, and yes, I have been told that I inherited it for a reason in the past, but that doesn’t mean I am to be alpha. Louise seems far more qualified than me, but even she is smiling at me like this is a done deal. Does she really want this as well? It’s crazy!
“I don’t know…” I try and say, but my voice vanishes. No one is really hearing me because they are all too caught up in the idea of me being alpha. I had no idea that anyone saw me as anything other than just another member of the pack. Even with the heirloom.
“Do we even need to have a vote?” Louise asks with a laugh. “It seems like we’re all on the same page here. Obviously we shall do the voting process, to make things official, but I think we all know where today is going.”
My heart sinks as the forms are all handed out because I can see where this is going as well.Me… of all people. I can’t lead. It’s almost enough to have me standing up and admitting the truth about last night. I don’t think anyone would want me if they knew where I’d been. But those words remain trapped in the back of my throat.
