En cuanto se cierra la puerta de la oficina del alfa, Crystal me mira fijamente. Si las miradas mataran, me caería muerto en el acto .
“Si tan solo te golpeas el tobillo, te voy a dar una paliza que te dejará casi muerto”, gruñe. “Si me van a castigar, más vale que cometa el crimen. Si no hubiera intentado ayudarte, le habría pedido a otro pobre infeliz que lo cuidara”.
tú.
Cualquier idea de que Crystal pudiera tener una aliada se desvanece. Me odiará a menos que la convenza de que no haré nada que la haga sentir la ira del alfa.
Casi tengo que correr para seguir sus largas zancadas. Es casi tan alta como mi hermano, y yo soy diminuto en comparación. Ha sido la misma historia toda mi vida. Soy más pequeño que casi todos los hombres lobo.
mi edad.
Cuando le toco el brazo, ella disminuye la velocidad pero me mira fijamente.
—Lo siento —digo—. No quería involucrarte en esto, pero te juro que no haré nada que pueda hacer que el alfa te castigue por mi culpa.
Su rostro se suaviza un poco mientras me mira de arriba abajo. “Vamos, mejor vamos a ver si la guarida…
Mamá tiene algo de ropa que le quedará bien.
tú.
Siento
mi cara se calienta
arriba
Al darme cuenta de que todavía sólo llevo una bata de hospital.
It would have been fine if stupid Alpha Scopus had just left me to my fate. But no, he had to
interfere.
Crystal looks at me and smirks. “If you ask me, I think the alpha has a soft spot for you. If it had been anyone else challenging him last night, they would be dead by now.”
I narrow my eyes. “I hate him,” I grumble.
Crystal stops dead in her tracks, staring at me with a look of horror on her face. Then she shushes me and grabs me by the shoulders.
“You can’t say that. It’s… It’s like treason,” she stutters, “and I’m the one who’ll be punished for it,
remember?”
My shoulders sag, and I hold my face in my hands. “I don’t want you to be punished. Why doesn’t
he kill me and be done with it?”
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I feel a tear trickle down my check, which I hastily wipe away.
When I look up at Crystal, she’s staring at me. She probably realizes that my wolf attacked the alpha with one thought in her mind. To end our miserable life.
When she opens her mouth to speak, I know for sure that this is the case.
“You wanted to die,” she gasps. “Not just you, but your wolf as well.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “And today, running away with hardly any clothes on…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence. I can tell by the look on her face that she’s horrified.
Instead, she wraps an arm around my shoulder, gripping it tightly at first, until I wince. Then she loosens her grip. “Sorry,” she whispers. “But honestly, Ember, this isn’t such a bad place.”
That’s easy for her to say. She’s a warrior. Her pack probably respected her, and now that she’s here, she sees it as an opportunity.
Like most of the tributes, she chose to be here. She isn’t being forced to stay, either. I don’t see anyone trailing after her to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself or run away.
All the other tributes are warriors. Tall, muscular, and ready to serve their new alpha. Me, I’m just a liability. I’m small and weedy, and I can’t even kill myself without mucking it up.
Now I won’t be able to attempt suicide again because if I try, Crystal will be punished, maybe
killed.
I couldn’t bear it if she were to get hurt on my account. I hate the thought of hurting anyone. Hell, I can’t even bring myself to stomp on a spider.
I shake
my head. “I’m not a warrior like you. I can’t be. I don’t have it in me,” I mumble.
Crystal chuckles.
“Everyone has it in them, given the right incentive. Just because you’ve never trained doesn’t mean you can’t be taught.”
Crystal is wrong, but I don’t want to start an argument and potentially lose the only friend I have right now.
As we venture deeper into the pack house, I see groups of people laughing and talking, looking happy. They all stop their chatter momentarily as we pass by. I keep my head down.
If it weren’t for the alpha’s threat toward Crystal, and toward my old pack, I would leave. Run as far
away from this place as I could. Not to kill myself necessarily I realized out there that I still don’t really want to die.
But still, I wish I could be somewhere else, somewhere away from all the expectations here and in Craven Moon both. I’ll never fit in. The sooner stupid Alpha Scopus realizes that, the better off everyone will be.
Ignoring the stares, Crystal leads me toward a woman who seems to be barking orders at several other females. They run to do her bidding without question.
If I didn’t know better, I would assume she was this pack’s luna, but I know that’s not possible. Everyone knows that Alpha Scopus doesn’t have a mate anymore.
I’ve heard that he did find his fated mate, but rumors abound that he killed her because she was weak. A ruthless alpha like Damon would never tolerate weakness, which is why I can’t understand why he doesn’t just kill me or release me.
The woman stops her chiding and turns her gaze to me and Crystal. I realize all at once: this is the
den mother.
It’s strange; I always thought that den mothers were soft and nurturing–because the one I grew up with was. I liked her. She used to let me cuddle up beside her while she handed out rations and bandaged wounds.
This woman, though, seems anything but soft. She looks me up and down disparagingly.
Crystal speaks before she has an opportunity to say anything derogatory.
“The alpha has requested that you provide appropriate clothing for Ember. Is this something you can do?”
The woman raises an eyebrow. I suspect all the latest gossip around the pack is about me. Or rather, not specifically me, but the fact that the alpha didn’t kill me when I challenged him.
“The alpha, ch? You’re very small,” she sneers, “but I should have some of the old pups‘ clothes that will fit.”
She opens a cupboard, pulls out a pile of clothing, and shoves it into my arms. “There’s nightclothes, day clothes, and something to train in.”
She scoffs at the latter, like she knows that any attempt to train me will be a dismal failure. She’s right. I’m pretty pathetic for a werewolf. Or at least, my human side is.
My wolf has always been strong. She would probably fight if I let her, but the few times I’ve actually Chapter 7 of 30: Chapter 7
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let her out, I’ve tried to keep her from hurting anyone. Which sucks, because I don’t have that much control over her.
Once, when I was thirteen and the lower–ranking Craven Moon males set out to supervise the females for a full–moon shift, I decided to give my wolf a chance for once.
Las demás hembras se acostaron juntas, formando un grupo de cachorros. Algunas intentaron correr, mordisqueándose juguetonamente, pero nuestros acompañantes machos lo frenaron rápidamente.
Mientras tanto, mi lobo intentó huir de inmediato hacia el bosque para unirse a los machos mayores en su cacería. El lobo de Eric, más grande y fuerte, la alcanzó fácilmente y le lanzó un golpe de advertencia en el frente.
patas.
Mi loba se puso furiosa, agitándose y mordiendo, y le apretó la pierna derecha con tanta fuerza que le hizo sangrar. Después, no pude evitar disculparme con Eric, pero él se burló y me dijo que no era nada.
Sentí algo así como un dolor compasivo en mi propia pierna durante horas, incluso después de que la herida de Eric se cerrara por completo. Esa fue la última vez que dejé salir a mi lobo en mucho tiempo.
Antes de que pueda perderme más en mis recriminaciones, Crystal me lleva lejos y me lleva a un grupo de…
escaleras .
En este piso hay un pasillo lleno de puertas interminables. Supongo que aquí es donde se encuentra la mayor parte de la manada.
vidas.
Ninguna puerta tiene cerradura, lo cual me resulta un poco desconcertante. Pero también me desconcierta la idea de vivir en una manada.
En mi antigua manada, tuve la suerte de vivir con mi hermano en casa de nuestros padres. Tenía una habitación propia. Estoy bastante seguro de que aquí no será así.
Cuando Crystal abre una de las puertas, me alivia encontrar solo dos camas individuales, una a cada lado de la habitación. Supongo que eso significa que comparto habitación con Crystal.
Si tuviera que compartir con desconocidos, probablemente habría cumplido mi deseo y me habría muerto… de vergüenza. Ya es bastante malo tener que compartir.
Crystal señala otras dos puertas en la habitación. «Baño y armario». Luego señala una de las camas. «Esa es tuya. Dúchate y vístete. Luego te llevaré al comedor de la manada».
La miro horrorizado . Me gustaba la idea de esconderme en esta habitación, agarrar comida y comerla aquí. Comer con el resto de la manada, que probablemente ya me odian, es una auténtica pesadilla.
Crystal me mira y pone los ojos en blanco.
Órdenes de Alfa. Toda la manada cena junta para que pueda dar la bienvenida a los nuevos miembros. Eso te incluye a ti.
Siento mariposas en el estómago. Esto no va a ser bueno.
