Page 7 of Primal

“I have an appointment with Alpha Fallamhain.” I don’t see any reason why I should need to explain further. Casual childhood acquaintance or not, she isn’t owed more than that.

But I guess she doesn’t see it this way because she instantly demands more information.

“About what?”

It’s not in my nature to be confrontational. It’s ingrained in my very bones to crave peace, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned through my clandestine work, it’s how to hold my ground on the rare occasions I need to.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I say with a casual shrug of my shoulders, my gaze simultaneously raking over the inhospitable woman behind my sunglasses.

The warning snarl that rips through her strawberry-red-painted lips has my spine stiffening and my wolf bristling behind her glass cage walls.

“Talis…” Canaan warns, standing straighter at my right. His voice holds an edge of authority I’ve yet to feel radiate from him. Then again, he’s the second-in-command of one of the most notable packs in the States. He didn’t earn that title bybeing a passive alpha. No, I think I’ve just discovered Canaan Roarke is just exceptionally good at hiding the true degree of his dominance.

The holier-than-thou expression that brightens Talis’s face grates on my raw nerves.

“I’m betrothed to the Alpha—have been for months.”

It takes everything in me to not reach up and check the status of my jaw because I could have sworn I just felt it hit the decking below my feet.What. The. Fuck?“You’re going to bond with Merritt?”

“Merritt?” both Talis and Canaan repeat, each sounding equally appalled.

Suddenly feeling unsure of how up-to-date my information is, I shift restlessly on my feet and ask, “He’s the Alpha, isn’t he?”

If I thought my wolf was throwing a fit before, it’s like a bomb goes off inside of my soul. I’ve barely had a moment to question what set her off when a rich, smoky voice not only cuts through but also completely silences the panicked howls echoing in my eardrums.

“Merritt is dead. I’m the Alpha of this pack now.”

For all of two seconds, I don’t recognize the man who has silently sneaked up the deck stairs to our left, but just as his intoxicating scent whips through the air, filling my insides and wrapping around my animal half, it finally clicks.

The scent that had made my very world tilt belongs tohim.

Rennick Fallamhain.

Merritt’s heir and, apparently, the new pack Alpha.

The very Alpha my meeting is with.

Shit.

Chapter 3

Rennick

To put it simply, I’m in a shit mood and picking a fight is starting to sound like a good time.

A solid week of running on little to no sleep, and the constant restlessness radiating from my wolf half has me more on edge than I have been to date. Since the first night seven days ago when my dream shifted and I finally heard my haunting angel speak, every time I close my eyes, I find myself back in that fog reliving the cryptic exchange with her.

And it’s starting to make me feel insane.

The nagging sensation hasn’t let up once and the hollowness that started as a small pit in my chest has grown daily until it now resembles something akin to a crater.

Any kind of distraction I’ve tried has done little to lessen the lingering effects left by the dream. The closest I’ve come to finding any kind of reprieve is running myself to death through the thousands of acres that make up my pack’s land. In my massive wolf form, I run between the trees and over creeks. The only time I stop is to take brief, cooling sips of water from the fresh springs before I’m dashing across the terrain I know like the back of my hand.

That’s exactly what I’ve found myself doing again today when I saw there was a break between meetings in my schedule.

I already know my second and friend, Canaan, is going to be annoyed I’m late for the meeting his mate slyly added to the shared calendar app. Rhosyn, who’s helped me in more ways than I can count during this draining transition phase, rarely makes changes to my schedule without speaking to me first. For this particular meeting, I guess she didn’t think it pertinent to fill me in on the details. Which is something I’ll have to speak to her about sooner rather than later.

The plan wasn’t for my friend’s mate to become my assistant, but after a month of filling in and helping me keep my head above water as I found my footing as this pack’s Alpha, I officially offered her the job. The crafty beta female simply smiled and pulled the employment contract she’d had drawn up weeks prior out of her desk drawer. I about fell to my knees and kissed the backs of her hands in gratitude. I didn’t, of course. Canaan, while typically a laid-back dude, doesn’t fuck around when it comes to his chosen mate.

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