Page 42 of Cruel Alpha

So, with the big basket balanced on my hip—Jack and Emmy each carrying a plastic bag with a single item of clothing in it—I ventured out into the world. The weather had grown even colder over the last week or so, and I had to turn back to bundle the twins up tighter, breaking out a pair of bobble hats that one of Julia’s elders had knitted. Neither of them seemed to care about the cold, happily toddling along with red cheeks and runny noses while I shivered and huffed and rearranged my hold on the basket every few minutes so I could change which of my hands was exposed to the elements.

Luckily, the walk wasn’t long, and we reached the laundry room without incident. I tried to be friendly to the women in the laundry, who were apparently astonished at the sheer audacity of my using this communal resource. Apparently, they expected me to wash my clothes in the freezing river out of shame for imposing my presence on my own Pack. Emmy clearly didn’t pick up on the decidedly unfriendly atmosphere, however, because she asked the laundresses a thousand questions about what they were doing, wanting to be lifted up to look into the soapy water. Despite her undesirable connection to me, Emmy was armed with enormous eyes and an attitude that just wouldn’t quit, so it took a few attempts to extract her from an impromptu lesson in how to get grass and blood stains out of sweatpants—an essential piece of knowledge for any shifter.

Once I had finally separated Emmy from her new fans, I was told to come back tomorrow to collect my things, and I thanked the women as warmly as I could before dragging the twins back out into the cold.

As we drew closer to the hall and to home, the sound of raised voices cut through the quiet. Scooping Jack up onto my hip and grabbing Emmy’s hand, I slowed my steps as I approached, trying to make out what was being said, but there were too many angry voices overlapping each other for me to make out much of anything. When we finally reached the edge of the market square, I lingered in the shadow of one of the buildings, watching the group—mostly males, with a few worried-looking females hovering in clusters—as they shouted and gesticulated. This close, I could make out some of the words.

“—over the bridge—”

“—at least fifty—”

“—should have known—”

My heart dropped into my stomach. They were talking about Arbor. There were Arbor wolves on the bridge. Suddenly, I was frozen to the spot, completely paralyzed by indecision. I needed to get home, needed to get out of the open, but if I moved into the square then I would have to face the ire of the Pack. I could skirt around the back of the cottages, but if I couldn’t be seen, then I wasn’t safe. If Arbor were already on the island, they could descend at any moment, and I couldn’t be alone with my babies when that happened. I clutched Jack tighter, squeezing Emmy’s hand as I dragged her in closer to me. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t move. I was so alone.

“Quiet!”

The single word rang with authority, and the shouts died down immediately as Caleb strode into the square. A flood of warmth rushed through me at the sight of him, and a little of the tension left my body. The noise died down almost immediately as the assembled Pack members bowed their heads to their Alpha.

Flanked by his A-Team, Caleb surveyed the gathered shifters, who trembled with the need to speak but who would not—could not—disobey their Alpha’s command.

“You might have heard that Arbor wolves were sighted by the bridge this morning,” Caleb began. His tone was even and matter-of-fact, and if I didn’t know better, I would think he was hardly bothered by the news. “I can confirm that there has been a sighting of at least sixty Arbor hunters amassing on their side of the bridge. I have placed lookouts who will let us know immediately as soon as a move is made. Now is the time to ready ourselves. I know that it has been many years since Lapine last had any conflict with our fellow shifters, but we are strong, we are resolute. We will not be cowed by an attack from Arbor.”

Some of the males perked up at that: a battle, after all, was a chance to prove themselves in the eyes of their Alpha. If they did well, there was a chance for promotion to Beta, to move from quarry work up to Pack leadership; that kind of opportunity didn’t come around often.

Others, though, still looked wary.

“What about the females?” Piped up Trevor Norris, and Caleb acknowledged him with a nod.

“I’ll be sending a few of my Betas to round up the women and children. We’ll keep them safe in the hall, with a team of volunteer males to guard them while we engage the Arbor attackers outside of town.”

It was a smart plan that would give the less bloodthirsty males a job to do without making them feel lesser, and it kept the more vulnerable members of the Pack away from the fighting. Most of the Pack seemed to acknowledge this, and the tension in the square ebbed slightly.

That was until Leonard fucking Pearce stepped out of the throng and said,

“With respect, Alpha, why are we risking our lives? All Arbor wants is the witch and her young. We hand them over, and there’s no need for bloodshed.”

My blood ran cold. I’d known that people like him despised me, but I hadn’t thought he’d be willing to so brazenly suggest handing over my children to be murdered.

“No need for bloodshed?” Caleb parroted back to him. At his shoulders, Leo and Xander were both braced to move, to hold him back if he went for Leonard, which was looking like a more real possibility with every passing second. “You know that if we hand them over, they won’t waste a second to—” he paused, swallowing hard as if it hurt him to say the words “—shed the blood of Alyssa and her children. Is that really what you’re asking for? To save your own skin?”

“Not my own skin—there’s plenty of strong young wolves who might be lost today. What of their mates and their children? You would make widows and orphans for the sake of a banished whore?”

Both Leo and Xander lurched forward to grab Caleb’s biceps just in time to prevent him from tearing Leonard’s throat out. The growl that ripped itself from Caleb’s throat sent ripples through the crowd, all of whom showed their necks in submission. Even Leonard could not stand against the force of it, though he grimaced with annoyance as his instinct forced him to submit to his Alpha.

Where the Pack felt terror, I couldn’t help the thrill that ran through me. That wasmymate. He was strong, he was fierce, and it was all for me and my children. Jack hid his face in my neck, whimpering quietly at the shock of aggressive sound, but Emmy’s eyes were wide as saucers and fixed on the square.

“Say. That. Again.” Caleb snarled, towering over Leonard. Xander and Leo reluctantly let go of his arms, apparently satisfied he wasn’t about to wolf out or commit serious violence. I wasn’t so certain.

Leonard’s head stayed bowed as he said,

“I am only thinking of the good of the Pack, Alpha.”

“Look at me. Alyssa is your Pack. Her children are your Pack.” He paused for a few long seconds, his eyes glazing over in thought before he straightened up. More shifters were joining the gathering in the square, having heard the commotion or been told about the imminent attack. I saw my father in a group of quarry workers in the opposite corner of the square, and Pauline and Gracie clinging to each other as they approached from the elders’ cottages. All of them were hushed as Caleb took a deep breath.

“Hear me,” he said; it was an order. If he didn’t already have the attention of every shifter in that crowd, he certainly had it now. “If any member of Lapine Pack lays a finger on Alyssa Graves or on her children, they are not only in open defiance of their Alpha, but it will be consideredtreasonagainst me.”

My heart was beating out of my chest. My stomach was doing somersaults. There was no way he was about to say what I thought he was about to say.

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