Page 67 of Lunar's Ruined Alpha

“I’ll do you the honor of explaining this to you once, but know that I won’t repeat myself,” I hiss. “If you ever threaten my life, my Mate’slife, or my son’s life ever again, I will skin you alive. In fact, I’m tempted to do it right here, right now. But I don’t want to ruin anyone else’s day by forcing them to clean up what’s left of you.”

Tim’s throat bobs with a swallow. He’s doing his best to look strong in the face of a vengeful queen, but I can see right through it.

“Is that a threat?” he asks.

I grin at him, allowing the expression to drip with poison. “It’s a promise, cupcake.”

And with that, I turn on my heel and march right back out of there. With a glance at my watch, I can see that it’s almost time for Noah to get off the bus again, since today is a half-day at school.

I ignore the stunned kitchen staff, and I even ignore Old Betty. I said my piece, delivered my promise of violence, and now I’m eager to get back home before Rowan shows up and finds the place empty. I want to apologize to him for doubting him earlier when he mentioned his suspicions about Tim.

When I get back home, I feel less restless and antsy, but confronting Tim definitely satisfied my instincts enough that I’m no longer fighting the urge to crawl out of my skin.

I cut up some fruit for Noah’s snack, humming under my breath, and then, when I’m done with that, I keep myself busy by pacing up and down the driveway for several minutes.

I don’t know what to do with myself. I just want to see Rowan again.

I want answers. Like a naive child, I want to be told that I actually can have everything I’ve ever wanted—my Mate, a healthy child, and a happy home.

Only, when I hear the school bus rumbling its way down the road, I feel an odd flicker of premonition in the pit of my stomach.

Standing in the yard, I wait for the yellow bus to emerge from the cover of the dense trees that block most of my property from view of the road. When it comes into sight, I smile softly as it slows slightly, preparing to stop at the head of the driveway and deposit a smiling Noah off.

Except that’s not what happens.

In reality, the bus keeps driving past and continues on down the road.

I freeze, brow furrowed. I wait another minute, wondering if the driver has accidentally forgotten where Noah gets off, since he usually hops off the bus at The Diner, but I don’t hear the bus stop further down the road. It disappears around the bend, and my son is nowhere to be seen.

I whirl around to face the house, as if I’ll suddenly see Noah materializing on the porch, but I’m completely alone.

Alone, that is, until a medium-sized wolf comes barreling through the woods and skids to a halt in front of me. I recognize the auburn coat and black eyes immediately—it’s Zahra.

I jump into action, following her as she lunges for my front door, panting heavily like she’s run halfway across Whiterose territory to get to me.

Throwing open the door, wolf-Zahra dashes into the house, shifts into her human form, and snatches a throw blanket off the back of the coach to cover her naked body before turning to me with wild, frantic eyes as I hover anxiously in the entryway.

“Rowan was right,” she says.

My first reaction to those words is positive, mostly because that seems to be my automatic reaction to Rowan now that the Mating bond is healed.

But then I realize what, exactly, Rowan would be right about.

Zahra brushes her hair out of her face, clutching the blanket around her with one hand as she quickly tries to catch her breath.

“It’s Jay,” Zahra continues. “Jay Randall.”

It takes me a second to connect the dots. “Tim’s brother?”

She nods, her throat bobbing with a swallow. “Jay challenged Henry this morning.”

I balk. “Challenged him?”

“For Alpha. Or rather, he challenged Henry’s nephew. He thinks their bloodline is weak, and was clearly inspired by the Blackburns to fight to the death for the chance to lead the Whiteroses.”

“But that’s not how things are done here.”

“I know that. We all know that.” Zahra shakes her head, cringing. “Well, most of us know that. It turns out that Jay and Tim have been hard at work gaining a loyal following among the pack. It’s not many. Maybe a dozen. But, Lina, there’s a bigger problem.”

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