Filed to story: The Wolf Prince’s Fated Love
“Hey, stop that. You did a crappy thing. Said some things that were hurtful, absolutely. But, Kane, you can’t take responsibility for someone else’s actions. You announced what should have been good news, and she took advantage of my weakness. It’s no secret to any of the wolves gathered here that I can’t hold my shift. If I’m honest… I can see why strong wolves like her might not see me as fit to be mate to the high alpha.”
“They’re wrong.” Goose bumps rose on my arms, my chest tightening at his words. There was so much conviction there, and he gripped me by the back of the neck and peered into my eyes as he spoke again, “You are everything. They just can’t see it yet.” His thumb stroking the tender skin of my cheek had tears pooling in my eyes.
This was my mate, my heart. The man I loved. I sucked in a breath through my nose at the realization.
“You said I can be omega… Do you think it’s true? Have you accepted the possibility?” Had I? His words nearly knocked me on my ass.
Something was different with Kane around. I didn’t know what, but I was changing. I felt stronger, and I’d been able to do things-hold power-that I hadn’t before. And somewhere, deep inside, it felt right, even though it made no sense.
“I think it’s a possibility, but I have no idea how,” I admitted.
He nodded, eyes serious as they held mine. “I do too. We’ll find out. There has to be someone out there who knows, and we’ll find them.”
It was a big risk for him to knowingly flout the anti-Omega laws. One he took without question, for me. I loved him. It had only been days, but I knew he was mine. Now, I just had to prove it to the rest of the packs.
The words were on the tip of my tongue, when the sounds of a wolf arrowing toward us through the woods had us all spinning in case of a threat.
The wolf was short and fast, steel gray around the muzzle, with vibrant blue eyes and thick, gray-and-black mottled fur.
Kane squeezed my nape lightly in reassurance before releasing me.
“Julius, what is it?” He turned toward the wolf, clearly familiar with him.
He whined low in his throat, and then jerked his head toward the main lodge.
“Julius is one of the wolves I sent to hunt down the Russo Alpha for questioning.”
I sucked in a startled breath, and Kane turned back to me. “You think they had something to do with your father…”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “We’ll turn over every stone until we find the truth. For now, I need to go with him, see what they’ve found. Stay safe, my beautiful mate. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips and then, as easily as breathing, melted into his stunning wolf. I ran my hands tenderly over his soft head, letting my fingertips dance over the lighter gray fur around his muzzle in a wordless goodbye. For the wolf, touch would always be more powerful.
“All right,” Gael called with a clap. “Let’s get back to work. This time, don’t try to rip your friend’s throat out, but I like the energy. Instead of a shoulder tackle, we’re going to work on a takedown where you get your arm behind her thigh, like this.”
I blew out a breath and watched as he demonstrated the move on Shay. Leigh watched at my side, growling low in her throat whenever Gael made contact with Shay.
“You okay, Leigh? You seem… off.”
“I’m fine. He just rubs me the wrong way.” She waved off my concern. “This isn’t about me. We have to keep you alive, and then I can stay far, far away from Marine Corps Ken.”
I snorted. If she still had her sense of humor, things couldn’t be too bad.
“You’re up, Brielle. Keep the focus, and let’s see you do it.”
Crap. I hadn’t seen the second half of the move, distracted by Leigh. Gael was going to be so pleased with his star student.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Kane
The Russo Alpha was bound and bruised, his right eye swollen shut and blood oozing from a gash above his ear. They’d placed him in the equipment shed, the farthest outbuilding we had from the dormitories, which were still full.
While a few packs had stayed true to their plans to leave immediately after the funeral and the oath binding, more than half had opted to stay to see the results of the challenge.
As soon as it ended, I intended to politely invite them all to get the fuck off my pack lands and give us some time to settle in and enjoy our bonding ceremony in peace. Assuming my men had finished questioning everyone about the murder by then. But first, I had to deal with this piece-of-shit alpha and find out if he’d had anything to do with killing my father.
I paced to a stop in front of him, his good eye tracking my every movement. I’d intended to let him sweat for a few minutes, but my wolf was pushing me to get this over with and be one step closer to an answer.
“Tell me what you know about my father’s death.”
“Is that what this is about? I had nothing to do with that! My pack was halfway to Vancouver when your little bitch brigade caught up to us.” He spat, the bloody glob landing two inches from the toe of my boot.
I stared down at the offensive bodily fluids, then looked back up coolly. “You’re lucky that you have piss-poor aim. And my enforcers had no trouble bringing you in-from the middle of your entire pack, no less-so I guess that makes you worse than a bitch. Stop circling, Shane, and tell me what you know. If you do, we’ll fly you to Vancouver unharmed on the pack jet to meet up with your pack.”
“You call this unharmed? One of your enforcers broke my arm!”
I looked over at Julius, who’d now shifted back to his human form and stood nude a few feet to my left.
“He resisted.” He shrugged, the gesture one of boredom.
A man of few words, as usual. But he always got the job done. Since Dirge had turned feral, he was my best enforcer outside my top three. He was mated and had been for centuries, so the likelihood of him falling into the same trap was blessedly slim. Not that we knew what had sent Dirge over the edge, a fact which Reed was unable to come to grips with.
“He can break the other, as well, if you don’t feel like talking yet. Or, I can have our healer bring out the wolfsbane. Whichever you prefer.”
He froze, terror rolling in his good eye at the prospect. Wolfsbane was anathema to shifters. It dulled our connection to the wolf and, in high enough doses, could sever the connection altogether if not treated.
“I don’t know anything, I swear on my wolf.” His panicked eye was wide, pupil dilated as he snatched against the bonds.
“If only you had a scrap of honor, I might believe that. Somehow, I don’t. Try again.” Without looking over my shoulder, I added, “And someone go get John Henry.”
“Don’t do that. You don’t want to do that. My pack will take that as an act of war, Kane, and high alpha or no, you don’t want to.”