I slam my study door so hard that the sound echoes around the room. Striding toward my desk, I sweep everything from the surface, including the list of tributes I was looking at earlier.
How fucking dare he? How dare Alpha Stone send me a pathetic runt with a wolf that’s almost feral? Well, he can have the little shit back, and I’ll force him to send me a proper tribute.
I pick the phone up from the floor. Thankfully, it’s still in one piece. I start to dial the number, but then I see a flash of lightning out of the corner of my eye. There’s a storm on the way.
I momentarily think of the pup chained up outside, but I push the thought away. It’s not really my thought–my wolf is pushing the images into my head.
“A good alpha protects the weak,” my wolf murmurs.
It’s a phrase I’ve heard before, and my wolf knows it.
********
EIGHTEEN YEARS EARLIER
I watch as my father’s fists rain down on the other man in front of him. Father hasn’t even bothered to shift. He doesn’t need to.
I stare, wide–eyed, as he keeps pummeling. This man disrespected Father in front of the pack, so I and all my packmates will be forced to watch his punishment–and perhaps even his death.
Father insisted I begin my alpha training carly. I don’t even have a wolf yet, but he insists I need to learn. My brother Marcus watches as well, leaning forward in eagerness at each new blow.
Marcus has been learning from my father for two years already, as he’s older than me. My mother doesn’t like it. She thinks eight years old is too young. But Father is the alpha and his word is law, even for my mother.
I’m glad of it. I want to learn. I want to be a good alpha like him.
The next time the man falls to the floor, he doesn’t get up. Instead, he drags himself to a kneeling position in front of my father and bares his throat.
I half–expect Father to kill him, but he doesn’t. He offers his hand and helps the man to his feet. He’s bruised, bloody and battered, but still alive.
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“Go and see the healer,” Father growls.
The man limps away, and Father walks toward me and Marcus.
I look up at him. “Why didn’t you kill him?” I ask.
Father smiles and goes down on one knee so his face is level with mine.
“A good alpha protects the weak. Sometimes we have to make our pack members realize that they are weaker than us. But when they do, when they submit to us, then is the time to show mercy.
“Then is the time to protect them, because then they learn what it means to be led by a truc alpha.”
My brother rolls his eyes, but luckily for him my father doesn’t notice. If he had, Marcus would have been in a world of trouble.
***
NOW
I shake my head. Damn wolf. That’s why he didn’t kill Ember James’s wolf, even when she clearly deserved it. She needs protection, not just punishment. I guess I agree, but I don’t have to like it.
I resume dialing the number for someone I can punish. Conrad Stone isn’t fucking weak, but he is at shit alpha. It’s time to put him in his place.
“Stone,” he sighs when he answers the phone.
He doesn’t know it’s me, but he will soon enough.
“What the hell are you playing at, Stone,” I growl, “sending me a worthless runt? Did you know her wolf was feral? Is that why you sent her?”
I can almost smell his fear down the phone, and when he answers there’s a tremor in his voice. Coward!
“Feral?” he gasps. “Why did you let her shift? Females don’t have the strength of will to control their wolves. That’s why we rarely let them shift. If they do, we have our males on hand, ready to subdue them.”
I roll
my eyes. I can’t believe this piece of shit. This explains why Ember’s wolf seemed so aggressive, I guess. But even an aggressive wolf is not stupid enough to challenge someone four times her size and definitely not an alpha.
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“I will return her to you, and you will send me a warrior in her stead,” I demand.
The line goes quict.
“No. I can’t… I don’t want her back. There is a situation which makes her return untenable.”
1 clench my jaw. So, Stone thinks he can turn his problems over to me. “What situation?” I growl.
He hesitates, but he knows better than to lic. “She was rejected by her mate. He’s a valuable asset to this pack. She is of no use now.”
I feel my wolf pushing to come out. He wants to rip Alpha Stone to shreds. I push him down.
Unlike little Ember James, I have full control of my wolf, but he and I are on the same Conrad Stone is concerned.
have AS
far a
as
My nostrils flare and I take a deep breath. “What about her family? Where are they?”
Conrad sighs. “Her parents are dead. She has one brother. I’ve told him this is for the best.”
I grit my teeth. Perhaps it’s best for Stone, but not for Ember James or her brother. “I will take the brother as my tribute,” I growl.
Conrad stutters down the phone. “But… No… You… He’s my gamma,” he finally blurts out.
I glance toward the window. Ember is a gamma? If her brother is gamma, she is too; pack roles are shared within a family. Gamma is an important role, the third in command if anything happens to the alpha and beta.
But then why would Stone send her as a tribute? It doesn’t make sense.
“Why did you send her, if she’s a gamma? Why not send her mate?” I demand.
He scoffs. “A female wolf has no rank in this pack, and with no mate, she is of no use to me.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing, but everything that happened earlier is beginning to make sense. “You will send her brother, or I will come and collect him personally.
“If I have to do that, when I leave there will be nothing left of you or your pack,” I growl.
“But…but…” he begins to stutter.
“Have him at the pickup point tomorrow at dawn, or you won’t live to regret it,” I growl.
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pelts down.
gnung spits the sky, and rain
I look at the wolf below, chained to the pole. She lies motionless, the pile of meat untouched at her feet.
“Protect the weak,” my wolf repeats in my head. I hate him sometimes, especially when I know he’s right.
I leave my office. The pack house is quiet. Most of the pack have retired except for Joshua, who sits in the living room, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He looks up as I pass through.
I stop
and glance over at him. Did he see what I couldn’t when he questioned me earlier? I sigh. Of course he did. He’s my beta. It’s his job to play devil’s advocate sometimes. I should have listened.
“I’m taking the little wolf to the pack doctor,” I tell him. “I need you to head back to the Craven Moon Pack to collect another tribute.”
Joshua me mira y frunce el ceño. “¿Otro?”*
Asiento. “Ese pedazo de mierda de Stone sabía exactamente lo que hacía cuando envió a esa loba aquí. No esperaba que viviera. Ahora, o envía otro tributo o rompe el tratado, ¿no crees?”
¿entender?”
Joshua asiente. “Te avisaré si hay algún problema”.
Salgo y camino hacia la loba. Ya puedo oír su respiración agitada al acercarme. No da señales de despertar.
El agua gotea de las puntas de mi cabello mientras llueve a cántaros. Su abrigo está empapado. Al agacharme y quitarle el collar plateado, ella gime, aunque mantiene los ojos cerrados.
“Cambia”, gruño, y mi orden alfa se escucha.
Sus huesos se quiebran y se recomponen. Es un poco más rápido que cuando se transformó de niña a loba, pero sigue siendo doloroso verlo.
Una vez transformada, Ember yace desnuda y temblando. Pequeños sollozos escapan de sus labios.
La levanto. No pesa prácticamente nada.
“L-lo siento ” , gime ella entre dientes.
La silencio y aprieto su pequeño cuerpo fuertemente contra mi pecho, esperando que mi propio calor corporal lo haga.
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Caliéntala un poco. Tiene moretones morados oscuros por donde golpeó el suelo antes, cuando mi lobo la arrojó.
Me importa conectar con el médico de la manada. Vive en nuestro hospital, así que cuando llego , ya está listo y esperando.
Estoy seguro de que sabe quién es Ember. Toda la manada sabe quién es, después de su pequeña escapada anterior.
La coloco en una de las camas. «Tienes que sedar a su lobo. No tiene control». Dudo antes de añadir: «Y su pareja la ha rechazado hace poco».
La doctora asiente, comprendiendo. Ahora entiendo por qué su loba decidió desafiarme. Ansiaba la muerte, pero no dejaré que se rinda tan fácilmente.
Ella empieza a forcejear mientras el médico intenta introducir la aguja en su piel, así que le agarro las manos, sujetándolas por encima de la cabeza. “Quédate quieta, Ember”, le advierto, “esto es por tu bien”.
No le doy una orden alfa, pero aun así, obedece, gimiendo mientras la aguja le penetra la pierna. En segundos, sus ojos empiezan a cerrarse, pero la expresión de su rostro es de pura agonía.
tirando de mis simpatías.
Está tan desorientada que ya no necesito sujetarla. Sin pensarlo mucho, levanto una mano para acariciarle suavemente la mejilla, donde resbala una lágrima.
—Duerme, Ember —digo, intentando que mi voz suene suave—. Te mantendremos a salvo. Eres una de nosotros.
ahora .
“ Protege a los débiles ”, me enseñó siempre mi padre, y eso es exactamente lo que pretendo hacer.
