Page 22 of Cruel Alpha

“And he’s got, uh—he’s got no right to ask for any of that?” Jace asked, his gaze flicking nervously between me and Alyssa. I knew what he was asking, and while Slade hadn’t brought up the issue when he came to Lapine, it was still possible that hedidhave rights to the twins; he just wasn’t smart enough to play that card.

“Say what you mean, Jace,” I said, crossing my arms and taking a deep breath, ready to face what was coming like an adult. Jace turned to Alyssa.

“Their father, he’s not Arbor?” he asked, and Alyssa tensed in her chair.

“No,” she said through gritted teeth. Now wasn’t the time to wonder who he could possibly be, if not an Arbor wolf, yet my mind was already spinning out in a hundred different directions, each one worse than the last. I needed to concentrate.

“Then he’s not going to get support from any other Pack,” Jace was saying. “No one was seriously injured, and there are very few islands that could stomach killing children, witches or not.”

“He’s been to Cunic already,” Noah offered, and my heart dropped into my stomach. “My father wouldn’t help, though. He said it was too little to start a war over. I imagine any other Packs will agree.”

That was a relief, if a small one. If Arbor couldn’t get help from Cunic, then they wouldn’t get it from anyone. Lapine tended to keep to ourselves, and as far as I was aware, there were no Packs out there with lingering resentments that Slade could exploit.

“So, what kind of threat could they pose independently?” Ethan asked. “They don’t have money, they don’t have human resources, they don’t have allies; they could try mounting an attack, but you’d have them beat in a second.”

“I don’t know if that’s true.” Her voice was small, quieter than the confident Alpha boom, but all heads turned to Alyssa, whose eyes widened beneath the sudden attention.

“Go on,” I said, as softly as I could. That was why she was here, after all. We all had an outsider’s view of Arbor, knew only as much as we needed to know about other islands in order to maintain inter-Pack relations. Alyssa, though—she’d lived on Arbor for almost three years. She may not have ever been one of them, but she was the closest we were ever going to get to a man on the inside.

Alyssa gathered herself, taking a deep breath before looking Ethan in the eye as she continued,

“You’re right; they don’t value human things as much as other Packs do, and they live simple lives, but that also means they’re closer to their wolves,” she explained. “Their hunters and trackers are—they’re crazy fast, and they’re not afraid of anything. I know you’ve got lookouts posted on the bridges, but if they wanted to get in, I wouldn’t guarantee they’ll come that way. If the element of surprise and the skill of their wolves is all they’ve got, then they’ll make the swim.”

For a moment, my chest buzzed with pride—my mate was smart, she’d be a good leader of our people when the time came—but then the implication of her words hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Why didn’t you tell me this?” I insisted. If there was a chance that Arbor wolves were going to infiltrate the island at a point other than the bridge, I should have known. I should have had precautions in place to make sure she was safe. She’d been walking around the edge of town on her own only a few days ago, and thinking about how easy she’d have been to pick off—I shuddered.

“I didn’t—the Pack already doesn’t want me here,” Alyssa said. “What’ll they say if you take men away from their homes to patrol every edge of the island for my sake?”

Her voice, usually so strong and so defiant, was edged with defeat, like she’d just accepted that she’d never be treated like a member of the Pack in the place she should call home. Rage coursed through me—at me, at my father, at everyone who’d ever belittled her for being who she was—but I forced it down, swallowing it as I knelt in front of her.

“They can say whatever they want,” I told her. “I’m the Alpha here, and they’ll do as I tell them.Nothingis more important than your safety.”

I didn’t even think about it when I took her cold little hands in my own, but she gasped as if she’d been electrocuted. The bond wanted me closer, but I shook off the urge. For a moment, our eyes met, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, she believed me.

“It’s a good tactic as well,” Ethan cut in, dispelling the strange tension in the room. “By cutting off their preferred point of entry, you’ll force them to come in over the bridge. If they come in over the bridge, you’ll have time to prepare to meet them.”

He was right. It was a solid strategy, even if the Pack wasn’t going to like it.

“I’ll let Liam know to round up as many decent runners and hunters as he can,” I confirmed. “They can patrol the perimeter in pairs until Arbor makes a decisive move.” I turned to Alyssa. “Andyouwon’t be taking any more unaccompanied walks.”

Alyssa huffed and crossed her arms, but she made no argument, and something that had been restless inside me finally stilled. My friends were around me, and we had a plan. Arbor didn’t stand a chance.

Chapter 11 - Alyssa

“I just don’t get him,” I said as Julia pressed a cup of coffee into my hands. “He insists on keeping me safe and acts all protective and—well, he’s acting like my mate, except that he’d rather cut off his own arm than admit the truth to the Pack.”

Julia took a thoughtful sip from her own cup.

“The thing about Cal that you have to understand,” she said eventually, “is that there’s more going on in that pretty head than one might imagine. He’s always planning, but he never lets anyone else in on those plans. I didn’t realize how much he was doing to protect me from Dad when we were kids because he didn’ttellme he was doing any of it. I appreciate it now, but at the time, I felt so fucking alone.”

“So what, I just have to wait?”

Julia shrugged.

“You can try to push him if you want, but he’s a stubborn bastard.”

“I noticed.”

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