Page 88 of To Keep A Wolf
Everyone stops and looks back at me, eyes wide. Even the Jades mumble uncertainly now.
“Uh, Mac, that’s not how this whole alpha thing works,” Tripp says in a low voice.
I ignore him, determined to make this right any way I can.
“Look, we came here today to fight for you because we saw the injustice and the oppression that came with the Clemons line of alphas. Fated mates or not—the choice should be yours. And so should your choice of which pack to belong to. For decades now, you’ve been forced to remain here. Those who left were hunted down and dragged back. That ends now. Apparently, I’m your new alpha.”
Tripp snickers.
Even Grey looks slightly amused.
I cast a glance at Burnett, who, despite his oath of loyalty, still puts me on edge.
“But I don’t have to be,” I add. “If you want to go, you’re free to do so. I won’t stop you, and no one will come looking to bring you back either.”
A weighted silence hangs, and then, slowly, people begin to move again. But a voice interrupts.
“And us?” a female calls out. “What happens to the Jades now?”
I see Nely standing at the front of the crowd of Jades who’ve come together in a separate group. Levi catches my eye, and I wait for him to address them, noting the sense of connection between him and them through my new alpha awareness.
“Same goes for all of you,” Levi tells them. “You’ve given up everything for this moment, but you don’t owe us anything for that sacrifice either.”
His words make me think of Frankie, but I purposely turn away from where some of the pack members have come forward to collect her and the other dead or wounded.
“If you want to go, you’re free to do so,” Levi adds.
Murmurs go around, and then Nely asks, “What if we want to stay? What happens then? There are clearly two packs on land made for only one.”
Levi hesitates. It hits me then—two packs, two alphas. Nely’s right. It’s never been done before.
“Well?” Levi prompts. “What do you say?”
I blink when I realize he’s talking to me. “About what?”
“Nely’s right. If we’re going to truly end this, one pack makes sense.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t agree too quickly,” he adds.
“I just… It doesn’t seem fair to re-burden the Jades with a curse they escaped when they defected.”
“Mac, do you not feel it?” he asks, cocking his head to study me. “The curse is gone.”
“I…” I look at Rina for confirmation. “But the ritual was incomplete. Doesn’t that mean the curse still stands?”
“The curse remained as long as a Clemons ruled this pack,” Rina explains. “Now that a new alpha has been chosen, the curse is finished.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I suppose time has a way of erasing—or changing—our stories.” Rina raises her voice, including everyone in what she says next. “A century ago, my mate was the alpha of these lands.”
My jaw drops. Nothing she said could have shocked me more. And not only because she’s just admitted to being over a hundred years old either.
Rina continues, “We were the strongest pack in the entire country then, with a bloodline that offered a mate bond like no other wolves in our history, thanks to my magic. Back then, my husband’s second was Arthur Clemons. Unfortunately, Arthur had a thirst for power we didn’t see coming until it was too late. With the use of black magic, Arthur challenged my husband and won. Soon after, I was banished, both for being the mate of the former alpha and for being a witch.”
“That’s where our distrust of witches comes from,” I realize.
