Page 179 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
I shared a look with Dom. “Might as well tell them,” his voice entered my mind. “If there are already rumors, it won’t be long before the entire pack finds out who was behind the attack.”
Good point. “From what we’ve discovered, yes. Troy sent the ferals to attack so he could escape.”
The King turned his head and spat on the ground. “Fuck that. Fuckhim.I’ve gathered up some men, and we’re going to hunt him down.”
I arched a brow. “On whose authority?”
He raised his chin and met my gaze. “Our own.”
I narrowed my eyes, and after a few moments, the pressure of staring down an alpha got to him. He looked away. These men were serious about going out there and finding Troy. I really, really couldn’t blame them, but we couldn’t afford to have rogue groups of wolves running through the forest, covering up tracks and scents with their footsteps.
“We’ve already got people on that,” I said, looking from him to the other wolves behind him. “I know you’re all concerned, but your alpha is handling it.”Maybe not the way I would want her to, but…
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t just sit around waiting for that. I need to do something. My mate, my pups…” His eyes flashed as he thought of his family. “They need to know I’m out here helping and making sure this doesn’t happen to us again.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Donald.”
“Donald. Are you and everyone else fighters? Hunters?”
He puffed up his chest. “We’re fighters.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. You all look like you could take Troy down easily.” A bit of flattery went a long way to calm wolves, and I hoped it would work here. “But Donald, I can’t let you do what you want. There’s something else you could be doing, something more effective than going blind into the forest.”
He stared at me, waiting.
“I want you and your men to gather every able-bodied wolf you can find to stand at the border. If any of you see a feral wolf, catch it before it reaches the compound.”
“You want us to just stand around and wait for something to happen?”
“No, I want you toprotectyour pack. That’s what you all really want to do, right? You want to make it so that your families can sleep easily?”
The Kings glanced at each other. They had to concede my point.
“What better way to ease the worst of their fears than to watch over the territory?” I asked. “Your pack needs you and your men out there doing that.”
They were coming around, but Donald still looked uncertain. “What about Troy?”
“It’s like Dom said. We’re on it. We’ll find him.”
He looked behind him to his men, and they all nodded reluctantly. “Alright. We’ll watch the borders.”
I nodded. “Do it in shifts. Everyone at the border needs to be as alert and aware as possible.”
He nodded before he and the wolves with him went to do as I said.
I released a long sigh and turned to Dom.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to calm him down,” he said. “A couple of times while speaking to him, I thought he might shift and make a mad dash into the forest.”
“Luckily, we avoided that.” I ran my hands through my hair. “But I can’t say I don’t get where he’s coming from.”
“Yeah, I know exactly how he feels.” Telepathically, he added, “Are you sure a search party is what we want? I think everyone would feel better if they were ordered to kill Troy on sight.”
I appreciated my beta’s discretion. “Believe me, there’s nothing I’d like more than to send hunters out there, but Bryn doesn’t want to order his death.”
Dom frowned. “She just wants to put him back in a cell?”
