Page 26 of Midnight Moon
I wasn’t done with my interrogation. “What were you doing in Denver?”
“Searching for information about the location of the Alpha Games.”
“Why wouldn’t you just ask one of the packs?”
“We planned to travel to Summit territory and request an audience with your father. In the past, the Summit Pack has always behaved honorably towards ours. But Chase wanted to go to the bar first. As it turned out, his desire to drink and flirt with humans worked out in our favor.”
I cursed under my breath. I’d told Asher I was traveling to Montana. It didn’t matter that he probably would have found out one way or another, it irked me to know I’d been the one to give him the information. Now, my future was on the line.
“So, you and Chase entered the games. You demanded a mating alliance between me and your pack’s alpha if you win, but you had no idea who I was.”
“Correct.”
I shook my head. It all seemed too convenient. “I don’t buy it.”
“You don’t have to buy it, but it’s the truth.” I took in his expression, hating to admit he didn’t look like someone who was lying.
The admission forced me to let his words sink in, and they stirred up so many more questions.
“Why would your alpha request to mate with someone he has never met?”
Asher ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the sky. “Because the mating has nothing to do with you as a person, only as the next Summit alpha.”
Gee, just what every female wants to hear.
I shoved away my irritation. “It doesn’t matter. You won’t win the Alpha Games.”
Asher’s eyes trailed back to me, running over me at a leisurely pace. “Then you shouldn’t object to forming an alliance with us during the games.”
I scoffed. “What makes you think I would ally with you after what you just pulled in there?”
“Because you feel you have something to prove in these games, and so does the Wilds Pack.” Asher looked around. Noticing shifters along the path, he moved closer and lowered his head. His mouth was only a foot from mine. I refused to look weak by stepping back.
My body hummed with awareness as Asher’s scent filled my nostrils. My inner wolf was drawn to his impressive aroma. She wanted to pounce on him and never release him from her claws.
“We each want to make our mark in these games, and I believe we can help each other do that,” Asher finished, unaware of my internal struggle.
I cleared my throat, focusing my attention on his words, not his intoxicating presence. “Helping you win the games would mean signing my own death warrant.”
“Death warrant?” Asher chuckled.
I saw red.
“Yes,” I snapped. “Mating a male I haven’t met, forcing me to abandon my pack in the process, is pretty much a death warrant in my eyes.”
His expression sobered. “What if I say our alliance isn’t intended to ensure our pack wins the entire games, just one competition to ensure the other packs take us seriously?”
“You can’t win one on your own?”
“You have knowledge of the games that our pack doesn’t. We haven’t participated in years.”
Their inexperience was good for me.
“I’m still not seeing a reason I should help you.”
“Because Chase and I have skills which will help you as well.” He spoke so confidently; it was hard not to want to know more.
“Like what?”
