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“What are they doing?” Sledge murmurs as we watch the women dress in tribal looking dress. “This looks like some kind of ceremony or something. What do you think it is?”
“Right at the time of the full moon,” I comment. “That’s something, isn’t it?”
Music plays, but I don’t know where from, as the woman in the middle of the crowd rises up onto what appears to be a mud mound in the middle of the mud huts.
“Do you think this has something to do with the new alpha?” Sledge asks as we both train our guns onto the mask in the middle of the crowd. “It sure looks like it.”
There hasn’t been a new alpha in my lifetime. It’s been Mason for as long as I have been a part of the pack. I haven’t ever seen this process happen. I do know that every pack has its own way of doing things, but this still leaves me feeling a little out of my depth. It’s beautiful to watch, utterly mesmerizing, but I don’t think either of us should be here.
“This feels intrusive,” I whisper to Sledge. “Don’t you think?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess this is the sort of thing that Mason and Cain need us to be watching out for. We have to be here to see it all. Especially if this is the new alpha. Knowing who it is, is one thing, but maybe we can even take them out.”
Shit, here? That definitely feels wrong. Discomfort flows through my veins. A part of me wants to run for the hills. If I wasn’t so intrigued by all of this, then maybe I would.
What the hell?I blink a few times furiously as my eyes begin to play tricks on me. There’s no way I saw what I just thought I did. Not a chance in hell. It’s because I’m thinking of her so much. That’s all it is. She’s on my mind, so I can’t shake her off. That couldn’t be Clara. Clara Davies isn’t even in this pack, is she?Is she?
Surely we would know if there was any chance of her being the alpha here, right?
Because I can’t talk about her, for fear of letting way too much out, I haven’t asked all of the obvious questions. I don’t really know who we attacked and why. I was just following orders. Just like I did in the military. Even if I didn’t like the orders, I still followed them. That’s just the way it was. But this… something about this feels way off.
Anyway, the mask is covering her face. I don’t know what I think I saw, but it definitely wasn’t Clara. If I don’t do something about what happened soon, she might haunt me and send me insane. Even if I really don’t want to, maybe I should tell Mason everything…
Fuck… there she is. She really is there. I would recognize her anywhere. That face, that body, that smile… she isn’t in my imagination, the woman is real and she’s looking right at me. Well, not right at me. I’m pretty sure if she could see me, I would be exposed already. That’s just how it feels. Actually, she’s looking at the crowd surrounding her, grinning and enjoying being the center of attention. The shocking thought could really be true…
Clara Davies actually is the alpha of the new pack. She’s our enemy, the woman that me and Sledge have now been ordered to kill. I can’t… I can’t do it. She might be in my eye line, my scope might be pointed right at her, but that means nothing. There’s no way I could put a bullet in the one woman who has actually made me feel something for the first time ever.
“No,” I mutter to myself. “No, no, no… there’s no way.”
“What?” Sledge demands, sounding a little panicked now. “What have you seen? Fuck, what’s going on? What have you seen? Adam, you’re going to have to fill me in…”
I can’t, though. If I mention that I can see the new alpha, then Sledge will take that shot. He’ll follow orders and kill the one woman Ineedto see again. Ihaveto spend time with her. I can’t let that feeling subside. It’s the only thing keeping me going.
“This is bad,” I murmur as I continue to back away. “Real bad.”
I can’t look at Clara Davies through the scope of a sniper. I can’t even begin to think about killing her. It doesn’t matter if she does pose a danger to my pack now. It’sher.She might have the glowing necklace and she might be someone we need to be aware of, but that changes nothing. My insides might as well be in a blender. They’re so messed up.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” I say, kind of to Sledge, but more for myself. “Wehave to get out of here. We can’t be here when they all shift and run. Not with a new alpha chosen.”
“But… aren’t we supposed to be killing the alpha?” Sledge asks me in shock. “What do you mean? We can’t leave now, Adam. That’s crazy. That doesn’t make any sense. We can’t go back and tell Mason that we didn’t do anything.”
“No, you don’t understand. We can’t do anything. This is…”
I can’t explain. I don’t know how, so instead, I start backing away. I need to get as far away from Clara as I can manage. There’s no way I can shoot her, and there’s no way we can just do nothing, either. This is a nightmare. But truth be told, I don’t think Mason will be happy with us if we kill Clara. I’ve seen how he looks at her. I know there’s more there. We can’t do anything crazy and out of control.
Sledge is still looking at me and I can see the intense questioning in his eyes, and I can see his mouth forming words too, but I can’t hear any of them. I can’t take anything in, not with my head spinning this wildly and out of control. All I can do is shake my head at Sledge and hope he understands. We need to be as far away from Clara and her pack as we can.
As I turn, I shift into wolf form so I can speed off. Because running off all this excess energy is about the only thing I can do now. I have to burn it all off. I need to get rid of it. I can’t hold on to any of this for any longer. It’s too much.
The faster I run, the more thoughts of Clara fill my mind. I shouldn’t have been left on my own with her. I shouldn’t have let her sit on my lap. Things should never have progressed like they did, but I was honestly under her spell. I couldn’t contain myself. I didn’t know how to stop. Nor did I want to. I wanted more. I wanted to claim Clara and have her as my own.
At the time, it seemed like she wanted the same thing. I didn’t doubt for one second that the feelings were mutual. The chemistry was absolutely burning between us. Now I don’t know, though. What if she wanted me to feel like that so I couldn’t shoot her? Maybe she’s smarter than all of us, and she knew that would put me in this position.
Much as I know I should head straight back to Mason to let him know what’s happening once and for all. I don’t find my feet heading toward his house. I’m running far away from everything and everyone. I can’t face anyone until I have my head on straight.
If Clara did put me under some kind of spell—with her eyes or with something else, who the hell knows at this point—then I can’t let Mason see that. He will lose all respect he has for me. He’ll want to see me strong and in control while I discuss the rash choices I made with him. Fuck, he still might kick my ass…
If Clara is a threat, then he will want her eliminated no matter what, and Sledge knows that. I can’t help but panic that my behavior might not have affected my friend, and instead, he is about to act on our alpha’s orders. The idea that I could be running away from a terrible situation, and leaving Sledge to commit the murder anyway makes me shake.
