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“White, please, let me speak,” I request.
He frowns before nodding and stepping back. I climb to my feet, still holding their hands, and face the pack I love. “I know you all have questions, and if any of you still believe in me or trust me, then I beg you to listen. I was ready to endure whatever you wished to happen to me, but I cannot stand idly by and let my punishment be inflicted on my parents. Jang is your alpha. He has led with dignity and respect for years. My mother is your heart, and she has looked after your children and fought at your sides for years . . . as have I. When my family was killed, I came here and found a home. I learned to trust and love again. You showed me that, and in return, I pledged my life to you, working to become the best alpha I could and be like my father.” I look at Jang. “Or as good as any man or woman could be to measure up to this man. Everything I have ever done is to try and keep you all safe and to protect the home that protected me.” I see somesoftening towards me—those who grew up with me, who helped heal me.
“All I ask is this. Please listen to this once, and if you still wish to punish me—us after, then I will accept it with nothing but love.” I stand taller as the sky brightens with oranges and pinks, the sun setting as night takes over. “I did what I did. I let the hunter go. It’s true.”
I let them react before I carry on. “He was the hunter who took me hostage. His name is Jai, and when he was a kid, his family was killed by a feral and he almost died. He is a half-breed—part wolf, part human—and in him, I saw a chance to stop a war before it started. I saw a chance for hope and a better future. The hunters were coming, and all that would be left were flames and death. I have seen it firsthand, and I couldn’t let that happen here. I couldn’t stand by and lose another family, so I made a choice. I chose to believe in hope, in second chances, and I let him go in hopes he could stop the hunters. I did what I did out of love, never malice, but I understand your anger and mistrust. I ask you to look at my actions up until today and judge me based on them. I ask you to think about everything I have accomplished and given to this pack. I ask for your understanding and forgiveness, like you have given me so many times before. I do not beg for my life. I beg for theirs.”
I swallow anything else I might say then, peering into the pack I call family, and I let them see my truth. I would die for them. I would suffer for them. I would do anything for them if only they would let me.
I kneel again, and Jang looks at me with pride shining in his eyes. “I’m so proud of you, my girl. You have grown into a true leader.”
The moonlight kisses along his face when White steps forward. “We need to vote. I know where I stand, as do the betas, but we must agree as a pack?—”
“Quinn!”
My name is screamed so loudly, it echoes around the trees. I push to my feet, searching out the source. It can’t be. It can’t.
“Quinn!” Another voice.
“Dammit, she-wolf!”
My eyes narrow on the tree line, and I gasp as Vale, Lucien, and Jai stumble from the darkness within, panting and covered in dirt and sweat. “What—” I step forward, my brow furrowed as Jai waves his hands.
“Quinn! They are coming! The hunters are coming!” he shouts.
Chaos erupts at the declaration.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“Dom, bring them here now,” I command. “Keep them alive.”
Dom and White surge into the pack at my order. Jai and Vale try to resist, but Lucien allows them to drag them closer. I watch them struggle, refusing to shrink under the growls and threats that come from the pack as the hunters are pulled through.
They are pushed to their knees before us as Jang gets to his feet. “Hunters,” he hisses.
I step in front of him before he can order anything, and I meet each of their gazes. “What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Warning you, obviously, she-wolf,” Vale snarks, shoving White’s hands off him. “If he touches me again, I’ll gut him.”
A growl goes up, and I sigh. “Enough,” I command, and the growl cuts off. “You said the hunters were coming.”
Vale grinds his teeth and nods his head.
“You brought them here?” I look at Jai, my nails changing to claws as I press them against his throat, tilting his head up until I meet his eyes. He doesn’t fight me or argue, just waits.
Part of me is hurt that he would betray us.
“He didn’t,” Vale replies. “He found us and convinced us to help you and your pack and get the hunters off your back. We found traces of a necromancer in the area and captured one of its victims, and we took it to them to redirect their focus, but they said they had inside information on where the pack is located. They are attacking tonight. You need to prepare.”
Just as he finishes, a howl goes up in the distance—a warning call.
“They are here,” I whisper, looking into Jai’s eyes. “You didn’t do this?”
“No,” he promises. “Never.”
Swallowing, I search his gaze.
“We cannot trust them,” Jang protests.
