Page 13 of Alpha Queen
"Yes," he snapped. "My pack, my brothers and sisters upstairs, are rogues because of those Alphas. Unjustly kicked out under the pretext of being too old and still unmated. Do you think that's insane or stupid? A lot of them weren't even kicked out because of age; they were kicked out because they threatened the secure little lives those Alphas had made for themselves. Because they were deemed not worthy to be in their packs, or because they ended up being the fated mate of someone that the Alpha disapproved of. So you tell me, did they deserve it? Did those Alphas deserve to see what they had done to good Lycans and shifters who were tossed out of their packs and families? Of everything they'd ever known? Thrown away like trash, never to be acknowledged again?"
Titan's eyes had gone completely black, and his nails and fangs had lengthened. Rage shook his frame.
River didn't know how to answer. She'd always thought that how Alphas exiled wolves for age or no good reason was wrong. But did they and their Lunas deserve to die for it? Lunas didn't even have a say about who was exiled.
The more she peered at him, the more she wondered if he was using the rogues as an excuse to enact his revenge on the ones he deemed responsible for his own exile. Apollo and Ares. But they hadn't been the ones to send him away; their father had. In a blink, Titan's nails and fangs retracted. He took a breath and said, "A refrigerator stocked with soda. Is there anything else?"
She cocked an eyebrow. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
"I suppose not." Without another word, he opened the door.
A memory sprang to the forefront. "Actually, I do have other things I need."
His grip tightened on the doorknob.
"Candy."
He looked over his shoulder at her. "Candy."
She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he nodded.
"Any special requests?"
"Peppermint patties. Lots of them. And those mint pillow things. Butter mints."
"Anything not mint?"
If she didn't say something else, he might become suspicious. "Gourmet chocolates. Expensive ones. Toffee and caramels. And bags of red licorice."
"Maybe I should kidnap Willy Wonka."
"I wouldn't put it past you."
He growled and told someone on the other side to make a list before the door slammed behind him.
She'd almost blown it by asking for all the mint candies. But she needed them in hopes that the mint might help settle her nausea. Back in her pack, the Luna had used a lot of herbs she grew or found to help people out. And she remembered the Luna bringing her some mint tea when she had the flu once. Besides, if the food was where he was putting the blockers, she had to eat, even a mouthful was better than just soda.
River looked at the door and wondered who was out there and if it was Vanessa.
Her wolf roared.
If River got her talons on Vanessa, that bitch was dead. It had taken her several days to remember everything that had happened when she'd been taken, and when she had remembered, it had been Vanessa who had stuck her with the syringe. She'd decided that if she ever saw the bitch again, Vanessa was as good as dead.
An hour later, River's door opened again, and a man walked in backward carrying a significant black something. He turned sideways, and Titan entered carrying the other end. A refrigerator.
They walked toward the kitchenette, and the man she didn't recognize dropped his end.
"I'll put this in place and hook it in," he said.
Titan nodded and headed out of the room. The man shimmied the fridge toward the wall and plugged it in. Then he stripped off the plastic and label from it. He opened it and stuck his hand inside before closing it again and tossing the wrap in the trash can.
He turned and looked at her. Large and fair-skinned with light brown eyes and a nose that looked like it had been broken at least once. His right cheek sported a long scar that ran from his forehead down through his eye and cheek to his chin and throat.
Damn! Who had he pissed off?
"Who are you?" she asked.
"No one."
