Page 7 of Pack Ruin
“Why is it even their business? He’s not hurting anyone.”
“He’s an Alpha’s child who went rogue. Alpha McDonnell said he needs to be taught a lesson, made an example of, so none of the others like him ‘get ideas.’ They’re insisting on having him put to death. Margarette and Bradley have asked for an emergency meeting of the four pack Alphas. They’re on their way to New York now to meet with the asshole and beg for a stay of execution. But they’d have to rewrite pack law to get him out of it entirely, and that requires a majority vote, at least three of the four Alphas voting for the change. With Luke out of the picture, and Dad here...”
My heart ached for Glen’s parents. “Where is Glen now?”
Brand sighed heavily. “He’s in our cell.”
My blood went cold at his words. Instantly, I was back in the cell at Southern, silver bars all around me, the hard concrete of the floor icy and cold on my bruised legs. The barren room wasn’t the worst thing about that cell. The silver in the bars was what made even sitting inside a torture of its own. My spit had tasted of the metal for weeks after I got out.
Brand’s pack wouldn’t have a cell like that, though. His father wasn’t like Alpha Callaway. They knew Glen, liked him. They wouldn’t… I stopped myself. Assumptions like that were what had landed me in a hunt at Northern on my first day.
For all I knew, Brand’s dad cared more for pack law than doing what was right.
“Will he do it? Will your dad execute Glen?”
A deep voice I’d heard before came from the doorway. “I’ve never disobeyed a Council directive. Never broken pack law. But I cannot say what I will decide. Not after what’s happened to you, son.”
“Alpha Becker.” I sat up a bit straighter as the massive Alpha entered the room.
“Call me Samuel, or Dad,” he corrected, stopping at the foot of the bed, with a nod to Brand.
Who still hadn’t looked at me. What was going on?
“I was… overjoyed… to hear of your mating with my son,” Samuel said, his expression grave. “Although the circumstances were not ideal.”
“I would do it all over again, but without the stabbing,” I joked weakly.
No one laughed.Brand stood abruptly and walked to the fireplace, stoking the embers there.
Okay, something was really wrong.
I took a second to peer around in the dim light and get my bearings. The furniture here was all enormous, made to fit people much bigger than normal. I probably looked like a child on top of the rough-hewn log bed that was piled high with downy comforters and quilts. The chocolate-brown leather chairs against the opposite wall beside a tall, curtained window were just as outsized, as was the gray river rock fireplace, where a small fire now burned, thanks to Brand. I was dressed in a fancy nightgown, long and made of gorgeous white satin, withembroidered running wolves stitched in gold at the neckline and hem.
Samuel had on normal clothes, jeans and a blue flannel shirt. Brand wore dark gray sweatpants but no shirt, like he’d been training, or wanted to be ready to shift. They both waited in silence while I breathed, and took everything in.
The room was filled with scents: smoke, pine, and the tea I was drinking. But there was my own jasmine and cinnamon, along with a few others that I couldn’t make out. My wolf probably could, if I ever shifted.
I thought back to the river. “Did I shift, when… when I blacked out?” I couldn’t let myself think of why I’d blacked out, couldn’t think of Luke.Even if I tried to tell myself I didn’t care about him, no matter how many times I reminded myself that he’d failed me over and over when I was growing up at Southern, my heart still pounded when I thought of him.
My lips still hummed with the memory of our one kiss.
I wouldn’t say anything about him in front of Brand’s dad, not yet. Anyway, I wasn’t certain if Samuel knew about my weird-as-hell mating bonds, or what he might do when he found out. Better to keep my neck covered and my unusual mating shit to myself.
“No,” Brand said, without turning his head. “You began to, and then… you passed out. At first, we were worried you were dying. Your pulse was almost indiscernible.”
“What happened then?” I took another sip of tea as Samuel explained what had happened since the river crossing. He didn’t mention what had caused my “seizure,” and I didn’t volunteer anything.
“You and Brand both passed out on the bank, just inside our packlands. Glen spoke to the shifters I sent to meet you. He explained everything.” He directed a look of concern at his son, who had picked up a small wooden carving from the table,and was turning it over in his hands. “Well, all thatcouldbe explained.”
When Samuel looked out the window, still obviously unsettled, I scooted over on the bed toward Brand.He still wouldn’t look at me.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Samuel cleared his throat. “Dinner’s in an hour. Brand can show you the way.”
“Look at me,” I said quietly to my mate as Samuel slipped out the door more silently than anything that big should be able to move. “Brand, what’s wrong? Why won’t you look at me?”
“I… Something changed, Flor. Something happened to me when you were slipping away.”
