Page 58 of Mated Exile

She takes a step forward, then another, before sitting down on the slim old bed. The mattress bounces beneath her, makingotherthings bounce, and I quickly avert my eyes before anymore heat can pool in my abdomen.

"I was wondering..." Her voice trails off for a moment, and I make myself look back into her face, ignoring the lure of cleavage peering out below. "Do you think there might be any way to awaken the pack elders, even without the blood of a Glass Pack alpha?"

It takes several moments for her words to penetrate my thick skull. Loosening my fist, I wince at the sharp pain, and glance down to find half-moon imprints of my nails in my palm, alongside a few beads of blood. Thankfully my shifter healing rushes to the skin and starts to fix it quickly.

Licking my lips, I try to put a thoughtful expression on my face, even though the only things going through my head are primal, animalistic, andfarfrom wise. "I have no idea if we could awaken the elders. They've woken up before during times of great need, but as the years have passed by, waking them has gotten harder and harder."

"Oh." Delilah wilts a little, and the sight of it makes me want to cheer her up. "I was hoping maybe there might be some other way."

"Maybe there is." I can't stand the sight of her even a little unhappy, especially shortly after finding out all the things her father kept from her, and seeing the way the news of his betrayal crushed her so thoroughly. "You're special, Delilah. Maybe a wolf-witch hybrid can wake the elders with her magic."

"Maybe." She doesn't sound convinced, though. "If there's a way, it's probably in one of the books Kieran loaned me from his aunt. I told Lance about them the other night, and he offered to help me sort them and go through them—they might have some answers."

Considering her words, I frown and shake my head a little. "Books about witchcraft could help you with your powers, and maybe the curse, but I doubt they'll help you with the elders at all. Our connection to them is pack magic—it runs through the land and our bonds to it."

"Huh." She leans back on the bed, stretching her arms behind her, which makes her breasts press up against her thin shirt, and reveals a stretch of pale skin just above her waistband. "You know, Bastian learned some wild pack magic as a lone wolf. Maybe some of what he's going to teach me could help."

Sharp envy churns in my gut. I like the new wolf—he's decent, quiet, dedicated, and best of all, he saved Delilah. I told her to keep him here because he'd protect her, but that doesn't mean I have toenjoythe thought of the two of them being together. Especially when I've denied myself the pleasure of her company so many times.

"You'll figure it out," I tell her, lifting the hammer in my hand and motioning towards the windowsill. "In the meantime, I should..."

"Oh! Right."

Delilah leaps off the bed and starts for the door, only to stop, pivot on her foot, and study me thoughtfully. Her eyes skim me up and down, and I try not to shift too much beneath the weight of her gaze, even when I feel it skip across my body.

Tilting her head, Delilah asks, "Roarke?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why don't you want to be pack alpha?"

I suck in a breath, not expecting that question from her right here, right now. Though at least the serious subject helps diffuse some of the heat that stokes inside me with her in the room, deflating a little of my almost ever-present arousal.

It's also an easy question to answer. "I'm not the right person for the job."

"But you're a natural alpha," she points out. "I've felt it, just like the guys. You communicate easily with other wolves in your wolf form, and you quiet the pack with your presence."

"That's not what makes a good alpha." Impatience fills me; I hate this subject, have hated every time Lance pushes at it stubbornly, Finn teases me about it, or Kieran quietly tries to unwind my hesitance. Needing to explain it to her, I ask suddenly, "Was your father a good alpha?"

The question seems to take her off-guard, and she rocks back on her feet a little. "Yes? He brought in strays and hunted for the weak. Everyone I've spoken to since his death has had something good to say about him. He protected everyone."

"Not everyone," I point out, anger stoking inside me. Taking a step forward, I feel a lick of rage inside my chest, quickening my pulse and tightening my hands into fists. "He failed you completely."

Her eyes widen, and she glances towards the hammer in my hand. Wincing, I curse silently, step back from her, and set it down on the bookshelf. I can feel the anger in my chest pulsing in the air around us, warm and potent, and I have no doubt that she can feel it.

Clearing my throat, I tell her, "A good alpha wouldn't have exiled his own daughter. Wouldneverhave threatened Kieran, who was only a fourteen-year-old boy, to get him to reject you—yes, he told me about that recently, and I swear it made me want to go back in time and punch William."

Her eyes widen further, though she doesn't look afraid. "What your father did to you was inexcusable. He was afraid of his own daughter, which isridiculous,because if he had raised you with the knowledge of what you were, let the pack see you and truly know you, there's a good chance you could've broken the curse. So many lives would've been saved. None of this ever had to happen."

Delilah licks her lips, and I feel the rage inside me fold in on itself, heat turning from anger to desire again. I stiffen, holding myself back from her as she says, "I had no idea you felt that way. That night Niall came here and explained anything—you didn't show any of it."

"I've been practicing self-control," I tell her, biting back all the things I want to say. "You seemed so burdened by the knowledge, so sad and beaten down. The last thing I wanted to do was burden you with my anger. Believe me when I say that after you went to bed, I unloaded on Niall. We all did."

She swallows and looks down as she says quietly, "Thank you." A moment passes before her green eyes meet mine again. "But I don't get why all of that meansyoucan't be alpha."

A hollow laugh fills my chest, but I bite it back, tension coiling inside me. "Don't you see? If your father, who loved every stray and protected the weak, couldn't be a good enough alpha, I don't have a chance."

"I don't understand." Delilah cocks her head to the side and takes a step towards me. I breathe in sharply, knowing I should step back, unable to make myself even as heat licks up my spine and desire banks beneath my skin. "I know you, Roarke. We grew up together. The boy I knew was a prankster and a jokester, but I can't believe he grew up into an unworthy man."

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