Page 99 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
My wolf bristled, growling at Troy’s words, but I didn’t let that vexation show on my face as I stared at him, again waiting for his answer.
“The answer is simple, Bryn.” He pressed his thumb against the spot where my pulse beat hardest, pressing just enough to sting. “Night was Gregor’s first child.”
Surprise hit me so hard, I couldn’t keep the shock from my face.
“Ah, so you really didn’t know,” he chuckled. “Yes, Night is my older brother. Not that he was ever there for me. The only thing I wanted when I was growing up was someone who would stop the pain. My own mother was fucking useless. She was even more scared of him than I was, but she chose him over me every time.”
The last time I had seen Nora Redwolf was at Gregor’s funeral, and she had seemed so broken up, so sorrowful about the death of her husband. But knowing more about the situation behind the scenes made me question if she had been crying because she mourned him or because she wouldn’t have the same amount of protection and power that she enjoyed while Gregor was alive.
The moment Troy found his own mate, her privileges would wane at least somewhat. Given how poorly Troy spoke of his mother, it was clear that he planned to do only the bare minimum for her. If that.
“I had believed I was the only one who would have to endure my father’s torture,” Troy went on. “But when I was six and I’d had my first shift, he told me the truth. That he’d abandoned his true mate to become Alpha of the Kings, and that because Night is older than me, he is the real heir to the pack.”
I closed my eyes as the news washed over me. Did Night know the truth? Yes, of course he did. When Violet had told me the story about Craig, the Wargs leader before Gregor, she had spoken of love and loss, and she’d started to cry. I hadn’t really understood why at the time, but now it became so clear. That story had made her miss the man who’d slept with her—Gregor Redwolf.
Violet wouldn’t have kept Night’s parentage a secret from him. So, it was no wonder Night was determined to take control of the Kings pack. It wasn’t just to ensure that the Wargs had a better way of life, though I was sure that was a big part of the reason. It was also his birthright.
My wolf whined. This was one of the few times that she and I were in perfect sync. The ensuing sense of betrayal stung my heart. Why didn’t Night tell me the truth? If Night were here with me now…well, first he would probably tear Troy and his goons apart. But after that, I would demand to know why he had kept something like this a secret from me. Was he worried that I wasn’t trustworthy enough to know?
My eyes opened as Troy tightened his grip around my throat. He was getting worked up again, and his claws pressed into my skin.
“After everything I did for that bastard, after everything he put me through, I still wasn’t good enough. I did everything he asked without question. Still, the son he tossed away, the son who slummed with weak wolves—Nightwas his favorite heir.”
I tried to keep my breathing even and slow, though my instinct was to gasp for air. I had barely enough room to breathe, I just needed to stay calm. In the meantime, I forced my pounding head to think through what I’d just learned.
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this. I’d imagined that Troy was just born violent and cruel, or that he’d become that way due to his own actions. But now I understood that he was driven by pain, betrayal, and angst. All of his worst qualities were connected to his father, and after living under Gregor’s leadership as both a human and a woman, I was surprised that the Alpha had treated his own male heir so poorly.
“If Night was your father’s favorite, why did he let you lead that raid on the Wargs’ compound? Why did he let you attack Wargs who were on patrol or hunting for no reason?”
“Now you’re asking the real questions.” He let go of my throat, allowing me to fall back against the wall. “To show me that those attacks wouldn’t crush Night the way they crushed me. Night knew about me that entire time, but he never once reached out. I tried to speak to him, you know, on the day my wolves and I infiltrated the Wargs’ compound. I went to speak to him myself. I found him while he was out patrolling. Before my men did anything, I wanted to bridge that gap. I thought, maybe he’s been busy. Maybe that’s why he never reached out to me. Maybe Father led us both astray and we got off on the wrong foot. I tried to get him to listen to me, but he attacked me the moment he saw me. He didn’t let me get a word in. I said, ‘Let’s talk, let’s bury the hatchet’, but he rejected me. Just like Dad. Just like you.”
Troy’s eyes were soft, even sad as he spoke, but his gaze hardened again as he continued, “I tried to warn him what would happen if he went on like that. He ignored me. He hurt me.He tried to kill me. So, that night, I let my men do what they wanted.”
He looked at me like everything was supposed to make sense to me now that he’d spoken his piece, like I would understand him now. “Don’t you get it, Bryn? All of this would have been prevented if he had just spoken to me man to man. All of this wasNight’sfault.”
My lips pulled away from my teeth. I thought about Tavi, and how broken and vulnerable she had been the night I found out about Troy’s raid. I thought about the way anger darkened Night’s eyes when he remembered that night.
“No, you psycho,” I said. “You expected him to welcome you just because you went to see him? You expected him to just accept your olive branch if you threatened his pack? You tormented the Wargs! You hurt his friends and his family!”
“I wasn’t attacking him when I went to find him,” he said, as if that were an argument. “If he had listened to me, maybe I wouldn’t have let my men go as hard as they did.”
His dark eyes showed no remorse. He reached for me then, and I flinched, expecting him to grab my neck again. Instead, he placed his hand on my chest, between my collarbones. I shuddered at his touch.
“It hardly matters now that I have you, Bryn. Night is going to pay for leaving me alone to deal with our father. And he’s going to regret trying to show up to take the Kings from me.” He let his hands trail further down, over my breasts and stomach.
“Stop!” I jerked around, wanting him as far away from me as possible. “Fucking getoffme!” But when I felt the press of hiswolf claws in my naval, I stopped, lest my movement force those nails to puncture my skin.
His answering smirk revealed the sharpened points of his teeth. “I’m going to take everything from him. His mother was first, and now his mate.” Slowly, he removed his hand and stood up, backing into the darkness the same way he’d come.
I trembled now that he was gone. I was alone, but I still felt the phantom sensations of Troy’s hands on me, feeling me up in the darkness. I understood now that things between Troy and Night were very, very personal—especially on Troy’s end. He had tormented the Wargs and killed indiscriminately, but he still viewed himself as a pup who had been wronged because his older brother wasn’t there for him.
Tavi had told me that it was typical for rival Alphas to play dirty to get what they wanted, but what Troy was doing was so, so wrong. He felt he was entitled to vengeance, entitled to his brother’s life, and that meant that there were no rules, no morals, no mercy. This could only end violently and bloodily. I only hoped that Night could find us before the distance between us weakened him too much.
40
NIGHT
Istood in the conference room in the mess hall. I had hoped that I would already have Bryn and Tavi back by now, but three days had passed since they were taken and we had no leads. On top of that, my body felt sluggish, unresponsive, heavy. My wolf and I felt more like strangers as the days passed, a sensation that was so wrong, so alien. It felt like I was disconnected from my own soul, and it hurt worse every day.
