Page 88 of The Hero Within
"No. It's okay." Eden shot up ramrod straight, clinging to the straps. "I can do this."
"Fine, Miss Independence." He backed away, hands in the air, a frustrated look on his face. "Don't say I didn't offer."
She stared after him as he bounded up the next slope, leaving her behind. The tight line of his shoulders spoke volumes.
Eden sighed.
So far, nobody had killed each other, though they'd come close this morning when Arik and Johnny had a fricking death-staring match over who would go first up the escarpment.
Apparently alpha wargs had a natural hierarchy, worked out through pheromones, swagger, eye contact, and probably a hundred other little things she didn't even notice.
Apparently, Arik and Johnny hadn't yet managed to work out who was at the top of the food chain.
"Awkward," Lincoln said, bringing up the rear. "What's going on between you two?"
Despite the fact he'd forced Johnny into a death match, Lincoln was swiftly becoming the easygoing member of the group. Arik was his older brother, hence Arik was above him on the invisible chain of command; Johnny had kicked his ass in the ring, hence Johnny was above him.
He found it all highly amusing.
She was merely getting a headache from all the testosterone.
"Nothing," she grumbled, staggering after Johnny.
"Oh yeah, looks like a whole lot of nothing," he said. "Kind of like Arik and Nnedi this morning. That was a lot of nothing too."
Arik had given his wife a hard kiss on the mouth before they left, and while she hadn't pushed him away, Nnedi also hadn't been wearing his claw.
"That's completely different," Eden snapped. "Your brother and Nnedi are married."
Johnny and I are....
Still to be determined.
"Currently that definition's a little rocky," Lincoln replied, with a shrug. "My people have simple rules. If you take a man's claw, then you accept his suit. If you discard his claw, then you're a free woman. Hence why Arik has a bug up his ass today."
"You mean, he isn't normally this surly and dictatorial?"
"Ehh." Lincoln held his hand out flat, then wiggled it this way and that. "Okay, you've got me there. He's being his usual bossy self. But he's a little snappier than usual. Arik used to have a sense of humor, before...."
"Before?"
Lincoln winced. "Not really my place to say. Before the Confederacy got their hands on him. Let's just leave it at that."
She looked at him sharply.
He'd challenged Johnny to a death match. She was finding it really hard to hate him, however, because now they'd fought it was as though there'd never been an issue between them, in Lincoln's eyes.
They're not human,she told herself.Their culture and rules were completely alien to her.
"It doesn't help that you're an unattached female, who Colton's clearly trying to lay claim to. Arik's not interested, but he's being forced to yield to Colton on small matters, so it doesn't look like he's a threat. He's not used to yielding on anything."
"Really?" she drawled, a bite of acid in her voice. "This has all got to do with some Neanderthal-style chest-beating?"
Lincoln shot her a long look, then grinned. "I think I know why Nnedi likes you." The smile died. "It's not that simple. We've spent years trying to still the rage, and choke down the warg when it rises within us. There are rules we obey, as pack, which makes everything easier. Important rules. One warg is the Alpha. Every warg beneath him slots into a certain hierarchy. You either obey the ones above you, or you fight for the right to take their place. If you're interested in a female, then you lay claim. If she accepts you, then you mate. If she doesn't, then you walk away and you don't look back. This is the way of pack, so the madness and rage doesn't tear us apart. It's not just a set of rules we made for the fun of it, but a way of life, Eden. We're not human. We never will be. And we can't afford to give into our emotions."
He shot her a long slow look. "Colton and Arik are so equal, it's hard for me to see who fits where. And you're the one saying you're in charge, but you're not a warg. Arik's trying. Give him that. He's pigheaded and domineering, but he knows he messed up. He's trying to right wrongs. He's trying to yield to you and Colton, even as all his instincts are screaming at him to take over this little expedition. It's not as easy as you think it is. The full moon's out tonight too, which makes everything just that little bit harder. And not just for Arik."
She glanced ahead, to where Colton strode up the switchback.
