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9
Kyle was holding out another sandwich as soon as I walked in the door.
“You were watching?” I grabbed the sandwich and took a bite. This time, I was going to make myself actually eat it.
“I didn’t listen, but I kept an eye on you,” he said.
I probably should have been upset, but it was oddly comforting knowing someone had my back. Sure, things with Kyle were weird, but if he wanted to cause me harm, he’d have done it already.
“You okay?” he asked.
I wasn’t sure how to answer that. Kyle knew more than he’d shared and largely because I’d asked him to keep it that way. If he was being honest about not listening, he didn’t know what our conversation had been about. For all Kyle knew, it was a lover’s quarrel.
My stomach tightened and the food in my mouth tasted like ash. Was it ever going to get easier to sort out my feelings about Alec? Did it matter if I was just going to return to Wolf Creek, anyway?
“Do you think I have what it takes to be alpha?” I asked.
“You can’t be any worse than the alpha we were raised with,” he said.
That was probably true, but it wasn’t reassuring. Almost anyone would be better than Ace. Or Tyler. Knots formed in my stomach as I contemplated what I was going to have to do.
“It’s not going to be easy. Once I show my mark, they’re not just going to hand over control,” I said.
“I doubt it. That’s why I think we need some help. Probably more than just Alec, too,” he said. “You’re probably going to have to challenge Ace. Or Tyler, if Ace stepped down and let him take over.” Kyle sighed. “Be realistic, Lola. Could you hurt Tyler?”
I wanted nothing more than to see Tyler pay for what he’d done to me all these years. I tried to imagine the two of us facing off in an alpha challenge. Every time I pictured myself going in for an attack, I stopped short. Frustrated, I visualized myself as a wolf, going after Tyler’s wolf. I met the same resistance.
“Fuck.” Even in my head, I couldn’t hurt Tyler. I looked over at Kyle. “We have to break that bond.”
“I know. And we will. But I don’t think we can do it alone,” Kyle said. “What about the shifters here? Would they rally for you? Could you convince some of them to follow you?”
“There’s one I wonder about, but I don’t know about the others. They live here for a reason. They want to be without a pack. I can’t ask them to risk their lives to help me gain power over a pack I don’t even like,” I said. “Am I doing the right thing? If I’m being honest, I hold no love for Wolf Creek.”
“You weren’t the only shifter being terrorized in Wolf Creek,” Kyle said. “Other students were threatened, bullied, and pushed around. Even adults were told what to do, where to work, who they could be with… It’s broken.”
“I’m broken. Because of that place,” I said.
“You were chosen for this. Probably because of what you experienced. They need someone like you who knows what it’s like to be on the outs,” Kyle said.
“If I do this, I’m tearing down that barrier,” I said.
“Good.” Kyle’s jaw was set and he looked more deadly than I’d ever seen him. “That barrier almost cost my sister her life. We couldn’t take her anywhere to get help. She was trapped inside because of that stupid age rule. We had to rely on the charity of Ace Grant. I don’t have to tell you what that costs someone.”
“So, we need help,” I relented. “What about my father? How does that play into all this? Alec said I was in danger. Was he being dramatic? Do you really know who he is?”
“I do,” Kyle agreed.
“Do I need to know? Can I just pretend nobody knows and move on with all the other complications in my life? It’s a lot already to deal with a mating bond I don’t want and an alpha to take down.” Did everything in my life have to be difficult? It felt like I should get to take the easy way out once in a while.
“You probably need to know before you move on since you’ve decided to challenge for alpha,” he said.
“What does my dad have to do with that? Is he from Wolf Creek? Or is an alpha? I don’t know why he’d care,” I said. “He’s never bothered to show up and if you believe my mom, he didn’t even know I existed before Alec got involved.”
“It’s complicated,” Kyle said. “I won’t tell you until you’re ready, but I think you aren’t going to have a choice.”
“That makes no sense,” I said.
“It’s hard to explain without telling you his name,” Kyle said.
