Page 31 of Claiming Her Alpha

“If she’s the true heir, she’ll need an heir too. If she is true to her promise to Alpha Vallerian, you might see her with another man, despite what she has promised you.”

Ryker’s heart dropped, his blood boiling as he thought about a piece of his soul carrying someone else’s child.

“I’m just saying this because I think she has promised to stay true to you. Though she might have full intentions to keep that promise, she might have to break it for the good of her people.”

“She would do anything for them.” Even with the little time Ryker had spent with her, he knew Kendra would put her pack before anything else.

“She would.”

Ryker closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. “Thank you.”

“For breaking your heart?”

“For warning me.”

“I didn’t mean to snoop earlier but the letter was right there.”

“I know. I read it every day. It’s the only thing I have of her. That, and my memories.”

They stayed together and talked well past midnight. It felt good and though he’d tried to avoid social encounters, this was truly healing. He returned home feeling lighter in a way he never imagined.

Chapter Ten

Kendra sat on the floor in front of her father’s desk, flipping through papers in search of an old contract. Her father wasn’t very organized, with boxes just labelled by year keeping things in organized chaos.

“I’m sure it’s in there.”

“Maybe I should redo all of this into folders while it’s all here.” She set aside the box she’d just gone through and pulled another one closer. “How is anyone ever going to find what they need when you’re not around?”

“Most of this is unimportant anyway.”

She laughed and pulled out an aged envelope with a broken wax seal. “What is this?”

“I believe it’s a copy of your great-grandfather’s peace agreement.”

Curious, she opened it and pulled out an old yellowish letter with a thick, folded map.

“After the territories were split up and the packs agreed to live peacefully, each one signed the agreement and got their own map, so everyone knew exactly where everyone’s territory begins and ends.”

Her eyes immediately found her pack’s territory. “Why is ours so big?”

“We legally owned a lot of land by human law, which was taken into account.”

“And the Silverliners have always been in the mountains?”

“Yes, they preferred to keep it that way.”

“And why is the Blood Wolves’ territory so small?”

“They fought the peace agreement, so they were punished for it.”

“And that’s why they still keep to themselves?”

“Yes.” Her father’s tone had become bitter. “They still feel betrayed. Especially by us because your great-grandfather insisted on them being punished. Many of our wolves lost their lives to them in The Great War.”

She nodded, her finger running over the borders of the Blood Territory. She stopped at the river, the painful memory of leaving Ryker at the river’s edge beginning to surface. She leaned down to the map and studied it closer. The blood line on this map seemed to stop a mile or maybe two before the river–not directly on its edge.

“Have the territories changed since then?”

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