Page 59 of Wolf's Reckoning
“What if he says yes,” I whispered, “but he means no?”
Adair reached over and rested her fingers on my wrist. “Then you’ll know. You’re not blind, Rowen. And Wolfe isn’t a coward. If he agrees to this…it won’t be with his teeth gritted and his heart elsewhere.”
I wanted to believe her.
I wanted to believeanythingright now, other than the gnawing fear that I was one move away from losing everything I’d fought for.
Because maybe Wolfe didn’t need this marriage.
ButIdid.
Not for power. Not for status. But because this might be the only way I could stay in the Hollow and protect it onmyterms. And if he was willing to give up a pack to help me do that? Goddess help me. I didn’t know if I could hate him for it…or be grateful. Either way, I’d owe him.
And I didn’t like owing anyone.
Especially not him.
Chapter 15
Wolfe
The woods were quieter here.
Less feral than Stonefang’s territory, but not soft. Blueridge Hollow had always worn its strength differently—coiled, patient, hidden beneath moss and silence.
Like her.
Killian had stayed behind. Too many words in the air between us. Too many opinions I didn’t want to hear. I needed quiet. I needed to think. I crouched near the old creek bed, watching water slip over rock, faster in the dark than it ever looked in daylight.
What the hell was happening here? I came here to talk about alliances for my pack.MyStonefang Pack. Along the way, I’d gotten involved with the stupid situation of Rowen’s marriage prospects, and now…I wasn’t aprospect, no, I was the fucking solution?
Rowen had been fighting battles all her life. Most of the time, no one else recognized them, but still, she fought. She fought so damn hard for this pack, and they worshipped her for it.
And me? I was about to become her next fight, but the pack…I don’t think they’d appreciate her fightingmewhen they learned what I was. Their alpha.
Shit.
I tipped my head back and looked up at the darkening sky. “Is this what you wanted, Luna?” I asked quietly. “Something’s at play here, and even I can’t put all of the blame at the druid’s feet,” I grumbled. “What are you brewing, Goddess?”
They wanted a marriage, which was essentially just another term for a political alliance.
A wedded bond.
I knew what it meant. Knew what it could cost me. The Goddess didn’t always give a second chance. If I married Rowen, and Luna had someone else in mind for me? An actualfated mate,what happened then?
Was it just too bad?
You didn’t double-dip with fate. I rubbed my forehead. I should’ve said no outright. Should’ve stood in that room with her father and the druid and all their smug little hopes and shut it down cold. I could have a destined mate out there, a mate whowantedme. I should have said no to their insane idea.
But I hadn’t.
Because somewhere deep in my bones, I’d known this was coming the second I scented her again. Rowen wasn’t a pawn to be offered; she was the damn chessboard. If I truly wanted to protect this pack, I needed to take the seat at the table that couldn’t be taken away. Not by the Pack Council. Not by the druid. Not even by her. I needed to be their alpha and let them accept me as that. But Rowen…she would never accept me as pack leader or alpha. She would always resent the fact I’d lied about what I was.
I inhaled, slow and deep, letting the air burn down to the bottom of my lungs. Well, as she had learned over the last few months, one shifter did not make a pack, unless they were the alpha.
This was out of her hands now. Luna and Malric had come up with a plan, and it was one I needed to take control of.
This was about control. It always had been.
